Chapter 10
The awkwardness in the Gryffindor Common Room finally made Hermione invite Lily to the kitchens to eat. She'd gone down too late and had simply walked back with Sirius and Peter but she was still hungry and she knew Lily hadn't eaten either. They weren't expecting James to also come along, but he hadn't eaten as well. Lily was furious that James came along but at least Hermione was with her.
They finally reached the painting of the bowl of fruit and while James tickled the pear Hermione had a heart attack.
"What time is it?" She shrieked and began frantically clawing at James wrist to see his watch.
"It's a quarter to eight Hermione, calm down!"
"Oh Godric I'm late!" and with that, she sprinted down the hall.
There was a pregnable silence while Lily had her own minor panic attack. She was with James…alone…no Hermione. 'Oh Godric' was right.
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"I'm afraid I'm having difficulty procuring a Time-Turner for you. The ministry seems to be a little upset with me and has denied my request." Dumbledore said forlornly the moment Hermione had found a comfortable position in the chair across from his desk. The portraits of past Headmasters were all pretending to sleep but Hermione swore she had seen one watch her walk to her seat.
She studied the Headmaster's office while she contemplated what this meant for her. She enjoyed the glass knick knacks and devices that glowed and spouted different colors of smoke. Fawkes was very small; he must have burst into flames the last few weeks and was now trying to grow up again.
Hermione groaned and began to rub her temples in hopes of relieving her headache.
"I can't tell them what I need it for because they are still blissfully unaware of your existence. But because I can't tell them why I will need a Time-Turner that will not be returned, they are understandingly skeptical. Lemon drop?"
"Er- no thanks sir."
"Don't fear, eventually I will get a new one for you and you'll be home soon enough."
Hermione continued to rub her head. Dumbledore was overly cheerful considering the circumstances.
"Have you had any problems here?" He asked, conversationally.
"I do seem to get a lot of headaches…"
"Any memory losses?"
"I don't think I would know if there were, Headmaster." She said with some amusement before closing her eyes again.
"Right, silly me." He smiled at her over the top of his half moon spectacles and Hermione was reminded of Harry's comparison that Dumbledore's eyes had x-ray vision.
"What do you know about Time-Turners, Ms Granger?"
Hermione smiled at the familiar sense of pride she got from knowing the answer to a teachers question. Taking a deep breath Hermione began listing off her textbook answer. "Time-Turners are devices designed for time travel. Their very fragile and highly volatile, they're easy to break and hard to come by. It is not known where they came from or how they were created but Reginald Fitzherbert is credited for inventing them. Illegal in most countries, time-turners are possessed only by a countries respective government and are not given to the general public freely.
"They are usually used in schools, for outstanding students hoping to have more classes and more time to study for tests.
"In my time, all of the Time-Turners have been destroyed, save one." Hermione stopped her rant and reached for the Time-Turner on Dumbledore's desk. The chain clinked softly as she ran a finger over the markings; she'd had the habit of running her thumb over them in third year.
"How did this one get saved?" Dumbledore asked with raised eyebrows.
"Well I- In third year I had one but went mad from constantly using it you see."
"Understandable. This is a typical side-effect for extended use." He answered good-naturedly but waited patiently for her to continue.
"But in my fifth year, with O.W.L.s coming up… I begged Professor McGonagall for another one. I was just so stressed you see. Because of my high grades and Professor McGonagall's recommendation I was given a second one, which I used without telling my best friends. I finished my O.W.L.s and received high marks. But at the end of the year, the stash at the ministry was destroyed by accident." She didn't want to go into detail about the Ministry battle. "This one was kept safe in my trunk. And I've used it for school ever since. When it was suggested that a Time-Turner be used to destroy Voldemort I lied and told my friends that they were all destroyed." Hermione had been torn up for weeks about this, but she knew that it had been the right thing to do, misuse of a Time-Turner was very dangerous, as she'd been kind enough to prove. "It's the last Time-Turner. I mean- it was the last Time-Turner." The broken glass caught the light and Hermione sighed.
"Hm. The ministry didn't ask for it back? To try and make more of them?"
"Curiously, no, they did not. Perhaps they forgot I had it?" She asked hopefully and Dumbledore chuckled.
"So I also assume you know why they are illegal Ms Granger?"
"Well- Besides the fact that it is dangerous because a wizard can kill their past or present selves, no, I don't know why they are."
"Hermione," He spoke her name as if she was a friend and she found it comforting. Her shoulders released some of their tenseness and she listened to his melodic voice. "Time-Turners create a sense a false hope for wizards and witches." Hermione furrowed her brow at this strange declaration but did not interrupt. "Have you heard of the Norikov Self-Consistency Principle, Ms Granger?"
Hermione shook her head, annoyed she didn't know something.
"Well it is the time travel theory that 'Nothing can be changed because anything a traveler does merely produces the circumstances they had noted before traveling.' There is only one time loop, and a time traveler is capable of going anywhere on that timeline, but they will find the more they try to change things, they end up making the things come true anyways."
There was silence for a long moment. "So you mean to say, any time-travel done, usually results in a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy? That nothing about the current future I live in…can be changed?"
"That's exactly what I am saying."
"So my traveling back in order to— er… well whatever the reason…was for naught?"
"Yes."
"But then why am I here?" Hermione was horrified to hear a slight whine in her voice.
"That's the thing Hermione. If you are here, it doesn't matter what you do, you're future is secure."
"But you don't understand! I don't want the future I have! It's completely horrible! Can't I at least attempt to change things?" Hermione dropped the Time-Turner and stood. She began to pace in agitation.
"Hermione, if you try to change things, it will only lead to the same end. I know it is hard to accept that although we are strong wizards and witches … we are not gods and are not capable of fixing everything. Some things happen for a reason."
Hermione sucked in a breath of frustration at the familiar words. Oh really? Some things happened for a reason? There was a reason Harry grew up an orphan? There was a reason Sirius fell through the veil? There was a reason Remus had to transform into a wolf every month? She was very close to chucking the damn Time-Turner out the window.
"You see what I mean Ms. Granger, the Time-Turner created hope in you that you could change something about your future, so you unwisely used it and ended up here. This only proves what I am saying to you, you must forget about changing the future." Dumbledore watched the girl over his joined fingertips before reaching for another lemon drop.
He sucked on it for a long time until Hermione calmed down and returned to her seat. The portraits above their heads had watched her mad pacing curiously but were now returning to their false sleeping positions since she was in her seat again. "I have more bad news for you." Hermione sighed and leaned further into her comfy chair.
"I suppose I should get it over with then."
"What method did you use to travel with your Time-Turner?"
"There are two methods of 'turning' a Time-Turner. The first is the Reginald Fitzherbert method, who is believed to have invented the first Time-Turner. He originally designed them so that you could turn them like so-"She demonstrated the proper way to turn the RF method on the broken Time-Turner. "This type of turning sends a person back one hour for each turn." She began twisting the Time-Turner in a more complicated manner. "But this turn, is the Lei Ming Zhou method and is used for traveling back further in time. She invented this several hundreds of years after Reginald Fitzherbert's method because people realized how inconvenient it was to twist the Time-Turner a hundred or so times to just go back four days."
Dumbledore popped another lemon drop in his mouth but Hermione could tell he was still listening so she continued.
"I used the Lei Ming Zhou method because I needed to travel back at least two weeks. It works because unlike the R.F. method which is linear, the L.M.Z. method is exponential. With each turn the number of hours that I go back is multiplied ten-fold. I must have miscalculated and ended up with too many spins and landed here, in this time."
Dumbledore held up a finger and shook his head while he finished his lemon drop. "Actually Hermione, I do not believe that you messed up your calculations. Although I do find it admirable that you wish to accept your mistakes."
"Sir?"
"Someone tampered with your Time-Turner. Someone must have known you'd attempt to change something and charmed the sand in the Time-Turner. They sent you back here for a reason and we need to find out who it was."
Hermione was shocked. "But that's impossible sir! The only people who have access to it were me, Professor McGonagall, and you! I brushed the Time-Turner when a house elf surprised me sir, maybe I spun it by accident."
Dumbledore ignored this and continued. "You must have information that can help the war effort in this time. Perhaps they wished for you to give them the information to defeat Voldemort. But how they picked you is a mystery, they couldn't know who you are if they're from this time." He was almost muttering to himself but Hermione froze.
"You mean….information. Like about V-Voldemort?" Thoughts of the Horcruxes strayed into her mind and despite what Dumbledore had said about not changing the future; she needed to tell him about this at least.
Dumbledore stopped muttering and looked at her in surprise. Probably because she had said the name. "Yes exactly."
So Hermione explained everything Dumbledore had told Harry about Horcruxes. His face lost all its color and his blue eyes were missing their shine by the end. She had to tell him that she didn't believe he'd made all seven of them yet but he was close. He was shocked that Voldemort had gone to such measures to become immortal but in the end, he believed her. His eyes were sad and he removed his glasses to rub his eyes.
"Sir, I was wondering if I could have a pass to check out the Horcrux books from the Restricted Section of the library. Once I've researched all I can, you must take them and keep them in your office so other students don't try and learn about Horcruxes. I think Tom Riddle might have gotten all the information he needed to make them here, at Hogwarts."
Dumbledore looked grave but agreed and handed her a pass. "I really hope you use the information you learn wisely, Ms Granger."
"Of course, sir. I'm very happy you trust me with these books, especially after what I told you."
"I'm a trusting person. I've been told it's one of my faults." He winked but Hermione flinched. "Now before you go, I want to remind you that you are not to try and change anything."
Hermione sighed and brushed her frizzy hair from her forehead.
He continued without waiting for her response. "I think I have a solution but I must run it by you."
Hermione nodded, curious about the Headmaster's idea.
"I can't modify your friend's memories once you leave, it could leave permanent damage on their brains if I tried to erase the existence of a whole person. All the emotions and memories associated with you would be too extensive to try and pretend they never happened." Dumbledore shook his tin of lemon drops and Hermione was alarmed to hear how empty it sounded. Had he eaten all of that by himself? Her parents, as dentists, would have a meltdown.
The thought of her parents froze her. He said trying to erase the existence of person from someone's memories was impossible without brain damage. But it was the exact thing she had done to them only a few weeks ago. Horror attacked her chest as Hermione realized the implications; she must have damaged her parents irreparably. Tears sprung to her eyes but Dumbledore didn't notice, he continued to speak of his idea.
"Instead I want to capture all of the memories and put them in a sort a box, then stuff it into the corner of their minds. The friends you make here will be unable to access it but it would be less dangerous than trying to erase the memories completely. It will be a difficult piece of magic and I'll have to research extensively to do it but I think it'll be worth it. Does this sound adequate to you Hermione?"
She felt horrible that she would have to take away memories of her, Sirius and Remus especially, but none of them recognized her so they'd had them taken away somehow.
"The only danger with this is that sometimes a person can access these memories."
Surprised, Hermione's mouth fell open. "Really? How would they manage that?"
"Love is a very powerful type of magic Hermione. Love would break open that box of memories of you." He looked at her reprovingly and Hermione wondered how much he'd heard about Sirius singing at Hogsmeade. But that didn't matter because she definitely didn't love Sirius and he didn't love her. She wasn't worried about it not working.
"I think we'll be fine Headmaster."
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It was dark. So dark she couldn't see her hand two inches from her nose and it was silent. So silent that it drummed against her ears. Her heart beat furiously against her chest, this realization was strangely reassuring because it meant she was alive. She wouldn't have been able to tell otherwise. The dark and silence pressed on her ears except for the pounding of blood in her ears. She tried wetting her lips but they remained as dry as paper. She was more frightened then she'd ever been in her life, the fact that she was alone pressed on her mind and she grew nauseous.
She shuffled her feet, hoping to establish some kind of connection and stop her feeling of vertigo but her barefoot hit a rock. Her eyes watered in pain and she sucked in the stale air.
She dropped to her knees and pebbles pushed into her skin but she was too scared to move more than this. Some instinct told her that if she was to crawl forward and search for a wall she would truly meet her death. She would die alone in the silence and pitch black darkness.
Tears streamed down her face and she gasped for air as her fear consumed her.
"Who's there?" A voice, male and right behind her, made her jump. But it sent waves of relief coursing through her body, she wasn't alone. She wouldn't die alone.
She cried in relief and screamed. "Please help me! Please!"
"I can't see you. Where are you?"
"Here! I'm here!" She sobbed uncontrollably. Then a hand touched her shoulder and she spun around. Her outstretched hands hit someone's chest and she collapsed into the oddly familiar arms. They were hesitant and held her small frame uncertainly while she sobbed into the black robes. "I was so scared."
"W-who are you?" The man asked and Hermione clutched his robes closer when he tried to pull away.
"I'm Hermione." She whispered into his chest but he heard her and gently grabbed her upper arms and pulled him away from his body. She cried at the lost warmth and begged him to not move.
"What are you doing here?"
"I don't even know where I am!" She gasped and more sobs raked her. She'd felt so alone but now she relished this man's dulcet tones and the feel of his fingers curled around her arms. If he moved away again and she was alone once more, she was sure she would die of terror.
"Are you injured?" She shook her head and clutched him closer, silently telling him she didn't want him to move away just yet. After he'd held her for a few moments her heart was at normal speeds and she noticed his robes were scratching against her bare skin. In embarrassment she realized she was naked.
"Do you have a cloak? I'm cold." She prayed he hadn't noticed and was relieved when he stepped away. He kept his hand on her shoulder and held out a cloak.
"Here." She fumbled with the heavy material for a moment but he helped her tighten it around her neck and rubbed her back gently. "Better?" Maybe he had noticed, she blushed fiercely and murmured her thanks. The cloak felt heavy on her shoulders and brushed her legs gently. Its warmth was as comforting as the man's.
Now that she had calmed down her brain was beginning to churn. "Do you know where we are?" She asked hopefully. His hand tensed on her shoulder slightly and a little bit of her fear returned. He didn't want to tell her? Her imagination ran ramped as she thought of Death Eaters and Voldemort or Inferi.
He took a few steps away from her, closer to where she'd first come around and she gasped. "Not that way!" She could feel him pause next to her and she clutched his arm frantically. "I have a bad feeling about that way. Let's go the other way." She began pulling him away from the area where she'd been getting bad feelings.
He allowed her to pull him but her hand hit something cold and hard. She ran her hands over it and realized it was a stone wall. Its many grooves and jagged edges scratched her frantic hand as she felt for an opening or some way of escape. "There's a wall." She explained and tried to calm her ragged breathing.
"Feel along it." He suggested. So Hermione began moving to her left, always keeping one hand on the wall and the other clutching the man's arm.
After a long time of neither of them talking and simply following the wall, Hermione sighed. "It's no use. I can feel the wall turning; this chamber is just a giant circle." Exasperated she hit the jagged wall with her hand. "If only there was some light in here!" She shouted in frustration.
At the word 'light' a sudden bright glowing orb appeared over the two people and Hermione shouted in surprise. She buried her face into his chest but when nothing happened she pulled away in embarrassment. "Sorry." Then she looked up.
A great cavern, too high to see the ceiling and too wide to see the far side was revealed by the pulsing light above their heads. The black lake at their feet was completely still and surrounded by a thin rim of beach of pebbles. Now she knew why she'd had a bad feeling about going the other way. Finally she saw the island situated in the middle of the lake and her breathing came hard and fast as she realized where they were.
"We're lucky we didn't fall in." The man next to her said and nodded at the water.
"We need to leave." She scoured the walls for an exit but she was unsure how far they'd walked and she had a sinking feeling it was back where they'd started. How had she come to be here? Fear was numbing her hands and feet with the knowledge of where they were filled her. Her companion seemed unconcerned which meant he didn't know where they were or didn't care. She began to run along the wall and she could hear him calling out her name but panic was setting in. If either of them touched the water they would be killed! There was a sudden loud crack and out of the corner of her eye she saw something pale and large break the surface of the water, then disappear back into its depths. Her fear was now complete and she collapsed, hyperventilating and shaking uncontrollably.
She listened to his panting as he caught up to her and set a gentle hand on her shoulder. "We shouldn't separate Hermione." He said this in a soothing a voice as he could manage between his heavy breathing.
Hermione sobbed, wishing desperately that she had not asked for a light and did not have the knowledge of where they were. Again she worried how she'd even gotten there but when she tried to remember how she had appeared at the lake's edge, alone and naked, she could not recall. There was also a thrumming in the air around her, in a way that only magic could.
"Do you feel that?" He asked her and closed his eyes and breathing in deeply. Magic had of this magnitude was calming to the senses and she used it to quiet her sobs. She hadn't even thought about if the man was a wizard but only a magic user could feel the magic in the air.
Hermione tried to see his face but the light was behind him, putting most of his face into shadow. Except his profile was familiar… She tried shifting to get a better look but the light moved with her, still putting his face in shadow and effectively obscuring her view. So she wasn't meant to know her companion?
Suddenly he leaned down and grasped something invisible. He pulled out his wand and Hermione watched as he tapped the air near his hand. A chain appeared that began to pool at his feet and a boat came up from the depths. It stopped in front of them and Hermione stared at in astonishment. Maddeningly, his face was still cast in shadow and she cursed the stubborn light for not showing her exactly what she wanted to see.
"H-h-how did you know that was there?" She watched, horrified, as he climbed over the edge and held out his hand to help her enter the boat as well.
"I don't know. Something just told me." He impatiently shook his hand and Hermione grasped it hesitantly. He helped her in and also sat down before tapping the rim of the boat with his wand and it began to move across the black water.
"Don't look in the water." She warned and he nodded mutely.
The boat moved slowly over the water and Hermione shook with fright. Instead of looking at the bodies in the water she stared at her companion and he looked at her too. She was able to discern that he had black hair before the boat bumped into the island and Hermione was jolted from her thoughts. He exited first, the stupid light still keeping his face in shadow. Before he reached down to help her out of the boat.
She stared at the pedestal that carried a shallow basin for a long moment before the man moved past her. He approached it warily before reaching down into it.
"You won't be able-" She was cut off when he pulled a long chain from the basin and Hermione sprinted next to him. "How did you do that?"
He held up the locket which spun beneath the gold chain. Green jewels formed an 'S' on the slick surface and Hermione breath caught in her throat. He began scrambling to open it. His fingers slipped over the gold and Hermione reached out for it. "Let me try."
He handed it to her and she let the chain slide over her fingers and felt the weight of locket in her palm. She considered chucking into the black lake but before she could cock her arm back she noticed a clasp on the side. The temptation to open it was too great. She pushed the clasp and the locket fell open keenly. A note slipped out like Hermione knew it would and she knelt to pick it up.
She didn't notice the light move to reveal the man's features as she opened the familiar note but instead of the message she had memorized when Harry gave it to her she saw something entirely different.
"What's it say?" The man asked and Hermione looked up at the face of Regulus Black.
The message fell from her fingers. It was lying on the cold stone ground and he looked down at the note. The black letters R.A.B. were stark against the white parchment.
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"Regulus!" Hermione gasped as she bolted out of bed, clutching her chest to stop her pounding heart from flying across the dorm room. Neither Alice nor Lily stirred but Hermione snapped her mouth shut and pushed her bangs back from her sweaty forehead. The nightmare she'd just awoken from had been terrifying and very real, the trek across the lake and her fear of the dark were still fresh in her mind.
But the most important thing she committed to memory was the man's face. So that's what R.A.B. had stood for, she recalled Regulus introducing himself as Regulus Arcturus Black and she was furious with herself for not recognizing it sooner. Her talk about Horcruxes with Dumbledore must have caused the revealing dream.
"Just a dream." She muttered over and over and attempted to go back to sleep.
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Hermione tried desperately to find Regulus after her revelation. But she swore he must have transferred to Durmstrang because he was nowhere to be found.
Frustrated Hermione finally gave up and headed to the library to check out the Horcrux books. After showing her pass to Madam Pince she shuffled to the Restricted Section and searched for the disgusting books.
It didn't take long, she simply headed for the farthest corner, where the darkest and most evil shelf in the library was and found them there.
She attempted to glamour them, so that no other students would be over curious at the Dark books she was reading but they didn't work. They were just too powerful and full of Dark magic she guessed. Hermione glanced up and down the aisle before stuffing the Dark books in her bag and hurrying away from the Restricted Section.
When she went around the final bookcase she was relieved to find Remus studying at an empty table. She watched him for a moment, his shoulders hunched and his cobalt colored eyes scanning a textbook. Every once in a while he'd write a note on a spare piece of parchment, the quill's feathers lightly touching his cheek since his face was so close to the table.
It was at this moment that her similarities to her former/future Professor struck her profoundly. They were both intellects and bookworms who were friends with notorious troublemakers. They were also outcasts, her- because of her know-it-all ways and him- because of his condition. But their similarities went deeper; Remus cared intensely for his friends and relied on them more than his own family because of his condition. She's had problems relating to her own parents, who struggled to understand her magic and the new world she lived in and she'd had to turn to Ron and Harry for understanding and a sense of belonging.
She wished that she'd seen this sooner, if their similarities were as numerous as she'd just realized then he had the potential to become a valuable friend. Someone that she could turn to and have understand her on a deeper level. She swallowed nervously and went to his table.
After exchanging pleasantries Hermione sat and began to also study. Secretly she watched him, and forgot about the Horcrux books in her bag. She didn't realize that he was watching her too, but in his own way. Because of his werewolf senses, Remus had a stronger sense of smell than most, he could smell her minty fresh breath across the table and lavender scented face wash. He could tell a lot about her without looking, for example her heart rate was normal but she seemed to be nervous and was sweating slightly. He didn't find this repulsive, in fact, her smell was intoxicating and he wished she'd picked a different table to sit at. He'd decided to keep his distance only last night and her tempting smell was very distracting.
They were so focused on the other that they didn't notice a group of boys enter the library and head towards them.
When they were only a couple of yards away Hermione finally looked over and gave Snape a familiar nod. Until she noticed who he was with.
After she'd been looking for him all morning, he was the one to find her. Regulus stood next to Snape and was staring at her haughtily done his nose. His arms were crossed and he seemed thoroughly annoyed that he'd been dragged here. The third boy looked to be the same age as Regulus and had a Ravenclaw crest on his robes. He didn't seem as proud as Regulus but his back was straight and he had a slight curve to his lips that couldn't quite be considered a smile.
"Granger." Snape said as a greeting. He had his ever present potion book tucked under his arm and was looking from Remus to Hermione with a smug look.
Regulus only nodded his acknowledgement and Hermione wondered at how she was ever going to be able to speak with him. She'd decided this morning, after reflecting on her dream, that Regulus must have been the one to find the locket. The implications were profound. If Regulus wasn't as committed to the Dark Lord as previously thought, he could be of great use to Hermione and she hoped to pass along information about the Horcruxes so he'd know how to destroy the locket when he got it. The thought made her giddy and she smiled a little too broadly at the two Slytherins and Ravenclaw.
"Snape. Regulus. And…who are you?" Hermione inclined her head to each of the boys. Her gaze fell on the mystery Ravenclaw boy who smiled back at her.
"The name's Bartimaeus Crouch Junior. But everyone just calls me Barty."
A/N: Norikov's Self-Consistency Theory is an actual theory but that is all it is. A theory. This doesn't make it the law… it is only one persons opinion *hint hint* ;) After all, theories and prophecies are only as important as you make them. That's all I'll say.