Hermione floo'ed into the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade after leaving the Potter's house. Well, it was more of a mansion, really. After a minute of thinking through her options, Hermione decided to get into Hogwarts via the tunnel in the cellar of Honeydukes. Luckily, when she got to the candy shop, there were several other people waiting for the man behind the counter, so she was able to slip down into the cellar without notice. As she walked through the dirty tunnel towards the castle, she thought back on her day.
Merlin, she couldn't believe that she'd met Harry's dad and his grandparents. Even seeing younger Sirius was quite a trip! She also couldn't believe she'd made such an undignified entrance, falling into a big pile of rubbish. Not the best first impression to make, but she couldn't go back and change it now. Well, she shouldn't have made any impression on the four of them, seeing as they never should have met her. She just hoped that they would quickly forget Hermione Granger, niece of Professor Dumbledore.
Before she knew it, she had made her way inside the castle and was nearly to Professor Dumbledore's office. The castle was eerily quiet without students and she hoped she wouldn't run into any Professors or ghosts. When she walked by the portraits, she left whispers in her wake - everyone was surprised to see a young girl walking through the castle at this time of night. Finally, when she made it to the gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office.
"Lemon drops? Red hots? Elephant ears?" she asked, disappointed when the gargoyle didn't move. She was quickly running out of sweets to guess. "Err...chocolate frogs? Fizzing wizzbangs? Cauldron cakes!"
Eventually, the gargoyle rolled his eyes at her and moved aside so that she could walk up the spiral staircase. She thanked Merlin that Dumbledore was still so predictable in this time. She bounded up the stairs, two at a time, until she'd made it to the top.
The bespectacled wizard looked up at her from his desk. "Good evening, Miss...?" He waited for her response. He seemed surprised to see her, which was unusual. Usually, Dumbledore knew everything that was happening with her, Harry and Ron.
"Granger, sir," she replied with a smile.
"Miss Granger," he said, offering her the seat across from him. "What brings you to Hogwarts?"
Hermione happily sat down. "Well, I don't really know how to say this without sounding crazy, but...well, I am from the future, and I need your help to get back," she blurted out. She bit her lip while she waited for his response, feeling nervous under his intense gaze.
"From the future, you say? Impossible," he said, his eyes narrowing in distrust. "Time travel is impossible."
Hermione frowned. She had to remember that this wasn't her Dumbledore. He didn't know her yet. He didn't trust her and they were in the middle of a war. Suddenly, she remembered her locket, which hung heavy around her neck. "But, it is! I have proof!" she said, opening the locket and passing it to him. "See, the picture says 'Quidditch World Cup 1994!"
Dumbledore's distrust was still evident in his usually twinkling blue eyes. "That could have easily been manipulated. Photographic editing is not new to the Wizarding World and could be achieved with some basic transfiguration," he said emphatically. "Now, if you don't mind, I am very busy and I don't have time to discuss these fantasies with you."
"Well, it's not a fake! And time travel is possible...just 20 year from now," Hermione explained, feeling desperate. Her only hope in getting back to her correct time was Albus Dumbledore. "I was with my best friend Harry Potter in the Department of Mysteries and I was being chased by a Death Eater and stumbled and broke a bunch of time turners."
Dumbledore's eyebrows practically leapt off of his face. "A time turner? Be then...that means..."
The man grabbed the sides of his face in a way that would have been comical had Hermione's situation not been so serious. She was sure that the knowledge that he'd been successful in creating such a powerful device was overwhelming for the accomplished wizard.
"Yes, sir," she said with a smile. "You were successful in creating a time turner. I am not sure when or how. The devices are highly controlled by the Ministry - but I do have the one that I broke." She handed him the broken time turner to look it over.
Dumbledore hesitantly took the device from her, almost as if he were afraid he'd get sent elsewhere in time. "Merlin's beard!" Dumbledore exclaimed, spinning what remained of the broken glass sphere. "Who have you seen? You could have changed the future already! You could have unborn yourself!"
She looked at the picture of her and Ron and Harry. Bot she and Ron looked normal, but Harry...he was beginning to look a bit shimmery around the edges. Hermione frowned, feeling a cold chill settle over her. By causing James to stand up Lily in Diagon Alley, had she somehow hindered their getting together? Was she preventing Harry's birth by being here?
"Uh, James Potter and Sirius Black found me. I also met James's parents. I told them you were my great great Uncle," she said, with a frown, too worried about James and Lily.
"Something the matter?" Dumbledore asked, finally noticing the distraught face of the young woman in his office.
Hermione bit her lower lip, unsure if she should tell Dumbledore what she'd noticed. Deciding that she had already trusted him enough, she told him the truth. "I think I might have prevented my friend Harry's parents from getting together. He is beginning to disappear from my picture," she said, before a look of determination came over her face. "I will just have to make sure that they get together before I leave. You will be able to send me back, right?" she asked, hopeful.
"One step at a time, Miss Granger. I will have to do some thinking, review some notes, before I can answer that question with any certainty," he said, spinning the broken glass sphere again. "And this is filled with...sand?"
Hermione nodded.
"I am sure I don't need to inform you that discretion is key. Try to keep yourself as inconspicuous as possible," he ordered. "And you must not do anything to try to change events that must come to pass."
Hermione nodded, familiar with the rules because of her time using the time turner in third year. But she couldn't hide her frown. THere were certain things she would like to change, but she knew that time was too serious to meddle with. "I won't try to change anything, I promise," she said, solemnly.
"Now, in the meantime, you are welcome to stay at Hogwarts. How old are you?" he asked, a bit more cheerfully.
"I will be 18 in September," she said. That was a lie - she would only be turning 17, but she knew that she needed to get close to James and Lily if she was going to have any chance of guaranteeing their relationship.
"Then we can enroll you in seventh year. Is that the year you'd be in your own time?" Dumbledore asked, looking at her over the edge of his spectacles, skeptical.
Hermione bit her lip. She had always been a bit smarter than the rest of her peers and truthfully, she was ahead of the rest of her class in all of her subjects. She was sure that with a little review of sixth year material, she would be more than capable of passing as a seventh year. "Yes sir," she said, another little white lie. "And, I am in Gryffindor."
"And for clothes and supplies...well, I think Horace Slughorn, our potions master, would love assistance preparing ingredients and basic potions for the infirmary before classes begin. I'm afraid I can't offer you too much - a few galleons a day - but it should allow you to purchase what you need and have some spending money left over," he suggested.
She nodded in eager agreement. "Yes, excellent. You can only scourgify your knickers so many times," she said with a laugh.
"Now, you must be tired. You will be staying in Gryffindor tower. I presume you know the way?" he asked. Hermione nodded. "Very well. The password is Caput Draconis. Breakfast is in the Great Hall at 7:30. I will introduce you to Horace then."
"Thank you for the hospitality. Goodnight Headmaster," she said, before heading down the spiral staircase from the Headmaster's office.
Even though she had been gone from her own time for less than twenty-four hours, being back in Hogwarts was immensely comforting. It seemed like ages since she had left Hogwarts on a thestral to go save Sirius at the Department of Mysteries. She still couldn't believe they'd been attacked by Death Eaters. Of course, she knew they were in a war, but is was her first time in a real battle. It wasn't a wizard's duel.
She hoped everyone was alright. She'd been so relieved when the Order had shown up because, really, they were under qualified to face adult Death Eaters. Harry would be okay, she hoped. He had to be.
When she got ot the portrait of the Fat Lady, she whispered the password and walked into the empty common room. It was unnervingly quiet, with none of the usual hustle and bustle - Ron playing wizard's chess, Lavender and Parvati giggling over a Witch Weekly, the Weasley twins testing their products on unsuspecting First Years.
Unable to remain in the tomblike room for more than a moment, Hermione climbed the stairs to the girls' dormitories. A house elf had turned down the sheets on one of the beds, which she presumed was hers. She flopped down and shoved her shoes off. The classer of her dirty, scuffed trainers hitting the stone floor was the only sound in the room. Aiming her wand at the fireplace, a fire sprung up, crackling and popping cheerfully.
She sighed, feeling sleep creep into her brain. It had been a long day and she had been through so much - well, decades, really. She opened the gold locker and looked at the picture within it. Her heart clenched seeing Harry shimmering around the edges. She couldn't bear the thought that she might have prevented her friend from being born! She just had to make sure that Lily and James got together before she left.
She didn't want to think about what the future would be like if she had gotten him unborn. What would it be like? Would Voldemort ever have been stopped the first time? Or would he have found some other infant to attack?
While she closed her eyes, she fondly remembered some of the stories Sirius had shared with Harry over the holidays about his parents. It had made Harry happier than she'd seen him in months. Apparently, being Head Boy had made James very responsible and Lily had finally noticed him.
Hermione frowned. She was sure that Lily didn't think abandoning her to cavort with 'some girl' was very responsible.
Sirius has been happy, too, describing James's attempts to woo Lily. He was usually so depressed being confined to Grimmauld place, but sharing memories with Harry seemed to improve his mood. That Christmas had been marginally brighter for everyone, with thoughts of Umbridge pushed to the back of everyone's mind and Mr. Weasley was safe and sound after being attacked by Nagini.
She tried to think of when was the exact point Sirius described when James and Lily had become a couple. Apparently, they had attended the Halloween Dance together. (James had suggested since they were Head Students and it would be more considerate to go together so they could focus on watching over things - very responsible). They'd been an archer and a wood nymph, or Apollo and Daphne, as Sirius said.
Hermione had been surprised that he'd known so much about Greek mythology, but he'd explained it was a bit of a family trait, what with the star names and all that. He was a better conversationalist than he'd let on, Hermione thought, when he wasn't trying to antagonize her.
Apparently, James and Lily had kissed after a night of dancing. James was bursting with excitement and Lily was pleased, too. Sirius apparently had been pulled away by his own date for more amorous activities, which made Harry laugh. Hermione wished that her friend wouldn't encourage him. She didn't need to hear any more of his "legendary" seduction stories. She just found them a bit crass.
But, there had been a terrible thunderstorm the night of the dance and a bolt of lightning happened to strike the Astronomy tower right after midnight that caused a fire. The professors struggled to get everything under control and apparently Professor McGonagall was looking for James and Lily, but couldn't find them anywhere. Turns out that the normally very responsible students had retreated to a broom closet of their own! The next morning, they were a couple, officially.
Hermione giggled, remembering the face that Harry had made at the thought of his parents snogging in a broom closet.
Well, Hermione thought. She just needed to ensure that James and Lily shared a magical evening in a broom closet on the night of the Halloween Dance. That was a good two months away. In that time, she just needed Lily to see how responsible James was.
That shouldn't be too difficult. After all, she had plenty of experience keeping Harry in line. How much harder could it be with his dad?
In the next two weeks before the rest of the students arrived, Hermione found herself falling into a comfortable, but lonely routine. She spent her mornings preparing potions ingredients with Professor Slughorn. She'd tried to blend in and be merely satisfactory, but the Potions Master had quickly noticed her aptitude and allowed her to brew potions for the infirmary as well. Nothing too difficult - pepper up, blood replenishing potion, etc. It was mostly mind numbing work, with Slughorn continuously name-dropping all the famous witches and wizards he knew and making hints about the Slug Club.
In the evenings, she ate dinner in her rooms. Eating with the staff was just too awkward and she decided she would rather be alone than ignored. She used that time to read the current textbooks. She was technically a year behind and twenty years ahead. She was surprised by how much of the curriculum she already knew, having thought seventh year would be full of surprises. She certainly wouldn't have to study too hard this time, knowing that she would have a second chance in her correct time.
Before long, the last weekend before school arrived and Hermione was given leave to pick out new clothing and school supplies. A quick stop in Madame Malkin's secured her uniform for the year. She still wore the trusty grey skirt, white knee socks and sensible shoes. But, she was surprised to learn that the girls wore white shirts with peter pan collars with a Gryffindor colored ribbon to tie at the neck.
With uniform in hand, Hermione took a turn around another store that had trendier clothing to get some things for weekends and the like. Seventies fashion had taken hold of Diagon Alley, but Hermione wasn't sure if this was what people would be wearing at Hogwarts. She only had Dorea's tea dress to go off of. With some simpler clothes, she hoped she'd be able to blend in.
Satisfied with her purchases, she continued to the other shops to get the rest of her required school supplies. She didn't bump into anyone she knew until she got to the apothecary. Even though he was younger, she knew she'd recognize Professor Snape anywhere.
"Watch where you are going!" he snarled at her, pushing past her to get to the display of copper cauldrons.
Hermione gasped. The nerve of that man! She couldn't believe that Dumbledore would trust him so much when he was clearly such a miserable and uncaring person. A little courtesy would go a long way. She had thought he'd had a surly disposition in her time, but her interaction with him now could only indicate that he was actually much worse as a teenager.
She tried not to think about her future potions professor anymore and made her way to Flourish and Blotts. Professor Dumbledore was loaning her copies of all the textbooks, but she still needed something to read when she wasn't revising! Picking out a few novels, she also decided to get a book specializing on Arithmetic methods. Happy with her purchases, Hermione decided to head back to the castle.
Knowing that students would be there the next day, Hermione began to feel very nostalgic. She missed her friends massively and wished they were with her. She couldn't believe that she was given the chance to meet Harry's parents while he never would. Why was she so lucky?
She wondered if Ron and Harry were worried about her, too. Did anyone know what had happened to her? Would Dumbledore tell them? Had they made it out of the Department of Mysteries? She hoped that they were alright, just waiting for her to come back to the proper time. She knew that Harry would be blaming himself for her disappearance.
Hermione was sure he wouldn't have to worry for long. She would be able to get home, with Professor Dumbledore's help. Luckily, he kept very extensive notes and he'd already gotten quite far with time travel experimentation. All that was missing was an extra spark, as far as she could tell. Plus, now he had the vessel and mechanism that turned the 'granules of time' (as he called them). But, he wasn't sure how to imbue the grains of sand with the power of time itself.
That would take some arithmancy, she knew. What was the power of time? DId it have a limit or was it merely a concept?
Well, if it was a limit, Hermione was positive she'd be able to figure it out. She pulled out some parchment and began writing down variables. If anyone could figure it out, it was Hermione Granger.