Disclaimer: See the first story…

Characters: Hermione Granger and Percy Weasley.

Song: "Time Turner" by the Ministry of Magic.

Word prompt: Protego.

"Three Turns Back."

"May I join you?" Asked a feminine voice above him.

Percy blinked and tried to make out who was talking to him. His glasses had been battered and broken; much like himself. He hadn't removed them though. He didn't really care. In his youth he would have repaired the bent frames and cracked lens before during anything else; but they had broken when that blasted wall had fallen...

"Percy?" She, whomever she was, had vetoed his permission and had joined him on the empty cot. The cot that shouldn't be empty. "You haven't seen your family yet." It was a statement, not a question Percy noted. He remained mute. He really didn't feel like talking anyway. He had failed his family. Fred was... he clenched his wand with both his hands not able to finish that sentence.

"Fred isn't dead." Percy dropped his wand and turned to her swiftly. Had he heard correctly?

"Fred's alive?" he cloaked out staring at the woman beside him that he knew he should know, but the name wouldn't come to him.

"Yes. Oh, your glasses are ruined. Let me-"

"The Hell with my glasses!" Percy exclaimed jumping up to his feet. "Where is he? Are they at -"

The small chuckle from the woman surprised and irritated him. He didn't see any humor at all in this.

"First, Oculus Repairo." The woman cast quickly. Percy blinked readjusting his focus.

Was that Hermione? No. It couldn't be. She was too gaunt, and she lacked the usual fire in her eyes that he admired.

"Secondary," the girl continued after she gave a nod of approval at her handiwork. "Fred is not at St. Mungo's. He was probably dragged back to the Burrow. He wasn't hurt."

"How? I saw the wall fall-."

"I was able to stupefy Fred then cast the Shield Charm around him before the wall collapsed."

"How?" He hated that he sounded like a broken Muggle record.

The girl chewed her bottom lip before squaring her shoulders. She reached under her frayed and tattered shirt, and brought out a small pendant that dangled from a small metal chain...

"Is that... No they can't be. They were all destroyed. I've seen them." He rushed out as he reached out and took the device in his hands. He flipped it over and sideways scrutinizing it closer.

"I thought so too. But, then the Room of Requirement dropped this into my pocket when Harry, Ron and I entered the castle following Neville before the battle."

So it was Hermione. "Hermione? What has happened to you - You look so different."

She scoffed and returned the time turner back to its previous hiding place. "Starvation, torture and fighting a battle would do that to you."

Silence surrounded them. It wasn't an awkward silence exactly. No. It was surprisingly a comfortable one. Finally after several minutes, Percy broke the silence as he took his seat beside her once again.

"How did the Room of Requirement get hold of a working time turner?"

Hermione shrugged, leaning backwards onto her elbows. "I wish I knew. I notice that it doesn't have the usual poem inscribed on it. A prototype that got misplaced, perhaps?"

Percy frowned then nodded his head in agreement. "I did notice that the seal of the Ministry wasn't on it... It could be the first one ever fashioned. I heard that the originator of the time turner was a Ravenclaw..." he trailed off as he looked at the other cots that were still full.

Hermione must have noticed where his attention was fixed on for she sighed and pushed herself back up to a sitting position beside him. "I was able to save several people that didn't make it; or at least I thought didn't make it at the time I went back; but, I can't save them all. . . I've tried."

Percy wanted to question her further on who else she was able to pull from the teeth of death, but her small gentle hand patting his knee threw off his line of thought completely.

"You came back and fought for what was right." She paused moving her hand back to her own lap, but her steady glaze into his eyes didn't falter. "That is the thing to remember not all the times you made the wrong choice."

Percy opened his mouth to protest, but she placed her finger on his lips, signaling him to stay quiet. "You probably don't know this, but even Ron, in a moment of fear and insecurity I might add, abandoned both Harry and me. But," she took a long breath and glanced up to the sky above them. "He did come back in the end. He did do what was right in the end. Like you Percy. Go to your family. They have missed you." She took another breath and looked back at him. "I've missed you." She added smiling weakly.

Before he knew what he was doing he was leaning towards her. He almost pulled away. Ashamed that he wanted to kiss his kid brother's friend, but thankfully she met him halfway. It was a simple and short kiss, but it was their first of many kisses.

Fini

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A/N: Well, this was my first completed and posted time-turner story. . . I think I stayed away from many clichés while still saving Fred, and a few others that I think should have been saved. I like the concept of two bookworm Gryffindors getting together, so I decided to give it a go. Song replayed once.

Written for the iPod Shuffle Challenge.