A/N: Hello all. Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews. I actually got to them all. lol. Thank you everyone who is still adding me to their alerts/faves, I'm blown away by the amount of people who are loving my story. I suggest everyone stop and make sure you have a fresh box of tissues ready, because Hermione is leaving today and its heartbreaking. As Always, Please Read and Review. I love hearing what you all thought. Take Care everyone.
Special thanks to my awesome Beta, Kristine Thorne, who has been dealing with many hospital visits and still finding time to correct my errors. You are a very special lady and I thank you for all the time and effort you've put in on my story.
Special Thanks to PandaHeart as well, for doing such a great job on giving this a final look over before I posted it.
Chapter 28
Sunday morning dawned sooner than she wanted it to. They ended up getting a few hours of sleep before the sun rose. Severus woke first and looked over at the woman lying next to him still sleeping.
She was beautiful, even in sleep. Her hair fanned out on her pillow, lush and wildly curly. Her face relaxed as she dreamed. His eyes slipped down over her bare body. She had kicked the covers off in her sleep and used him for warmth instead.
Her golden skin glowed in the soft light the room provided. The slight discolorations here and there drew his attention again. He still hadn't a clue as to why she had so many scars, but they didn't diminish her beauty at all. Somehow they seemed to make her more gorgeous. Though for the life of him, he hadn't a clue as to how that could be possible.
His eyes moved to her hand. With a wave of his hand, the glamour disappeared. His fingers traced over the scar there. He would swear it was words that had been carved into her skin, but she claimed it wasn't.
He couldn't think of why she would lie about something like whether it was words or not. It just had to be a coincidence.
He waved his hand again and put her glamour back in place. His eyes moved to her neck and with another wave, he removed the glamour hiding the mark there too.
He traced the tiny line on her neck. It looked like a scar from a knife. Who would hold a knife to her throat? What had happened to her? What kind of life has she known to be so scarred up?
He didn't know and he knew she wouldn't tell him. She said she didn't like to talk about it and she never did. Not a word. Not a hint. Nothing. He wondered if he'd ever know what all she had been through.
He waved his hand to put her glamour back hiding that scar too, when she started to stir. He didn't want her knowing he had been looking at them. She was so sensitive over anyone seeing them that he didn't want her to be upset and pull away to hide them.
Hermione opened her eyes to find him watching her. Her lips curved into a grin when she saw him staring at her. "Good morning." She said as she stretched.
Severus smiled back at her. "Good morning. Did you sleep well? During the two or three hours of sleep we actually got."
Hermione laughed softly. "I did. Did you?"
Severus nodded. "So what are we doing today?"
Hermione swallowed and forced her smile to stay in place. "I'm not sure. Feel up to hanging around Lily and the guys again?" She hoped so. Today she was leaving.
Severus shrugged. "If you want to. I was hoping to get you to myself today."
Hermione frowned slightly. She wanted to give him all of her time today, but she couldn't. She couldn't ditch the others knowing she was leaving today and wouldn't ever see most of them again. "Well…how about I give you a few hours this morning with just us before joining the others?"
Severus smiled. "I can live with that, if I have to share you."
"Do you mind sharing me?" She asked him as she sat up.
Severus shook his head. "Not at all. I'll have you all to myself after we graduate. I can share you now."
Hermione gave him slight smile and a quick kiss before getting up. Heading into the loo that the room provided. She closed the door and sagged against it. She waved her hand and placed a silencing charm on the door.
Hot tears ran down her cheeks. She was leaving and it was tearing her up. Hearing Severus tell her that he would have her after graduation had almost been too much.
She took a few moments to let her tears out. Afraid that if she held them back right now, they might spill later when she wasn't alone.
When she was all right again, she again waved her hand to remove all traces of her tears and got ready for the day. When she was clean and dressed, she went back out to let Severus have his turn at the loo.
They ate breakfast and spent a few hours alone, walking and talking on the grounds. She did her best to pretend that it was just another normal day, and for the most part it worked. But the weight of her leaving was bearing down on her shoulders and making it hard to keep her smile in place.
Later they joined her friends and Hermione tried to make sure she didn't miss a single thing. But she was aware of how quickly time was slipping away.
Around mid-afternoon, an elf appeared outside to deliver a note from Dumbledore. The others waited as she opened it to find a short message scrawled inside.
Ms. Brown,
Please meet me in my office directly after dinner. I'd like to discuss your plans after Hogwarts with you.
Prof. Dumbledore
Hermione swallowed and stuffed the note into her pocket. She knew he wrote it like he did just in case anyone else saw it.
He couldn't very well say come to my office so I can send you forward into the future twenty years. She thought.
"What does the note say, Kitten?" Sirius asked.
Hermione shrugged. "Dumbledore wants to see me after dinner to talk to me about what I'm doing after graduation."
Lily frowned. "Why does he want to talk about that?" She hadn't heard of the Headmaster pulling anyone else aside to discuss their plans after graduation.
Hermione shrugged again. "I don't know." She said, looking away at some students down by the lake so they wouldn't see the lie in her eyes.
Lily's frown deepened, she glanced at Remus and with a slight nod he confirmed that he too knew Hermione was lying. But the two didn't say anything about it. They didn't want to draw attention to it. But they both intended to corner Hermione after her meeting and find out what was going on.
Both knew she was hiding something. She had been acting weird for the last few days and they were tired of waiting for her to tell them what was on her mind.
The rest of the day passed and when dinner came about Hermione sat down but couldn't eat a single thing. She mostly just pushed the food around on her plate.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Remus asked her in a hushed voice so not to draw attention. He had noticed her not eating.
Hermione looked up. "Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just not hungry."
Remus sighed but still whispered. "Come on. Something is bothering you. What is it? You know you can tell me anything."
Hermione met his soft blue eyes. She could tell him anything. It was true now and in the future as well. But she couldn't tell him this. Even though she wanted to. Remus in her time would have taken it well, but she didn't know if this one, in this time, would.
She shook her head. "No really. It's nothing. Just…antsy, I guess. About this meeting."
Remus frowned at her, noticing her lying once again. Then, with a quick look around, he pulled her to her feet. "Come with me."
Hermione swallowed but followed him. She felt Severus' eyes on her, so she gave him a quick smile. I'll be right back. She thought. Knowing he was scanning her mind. When he nodded, she turned back and followed Remus.
They zigzagged down a few halls before Remus stopped and turned to her. "Okay, you're going to tell me what is going on. You have been acting strange for days now and I've had enough. Now what is it, Hermione?"
Hermione sighed. "Remus, it's nothing. Nothing is going on."
Remus growled at her as his eyes briefly flashed gold with his exasperation. He rarely showed his anger at anyone, but he hated her lying to him. "Hermione, I could tell you were lying without my wolf senses. With them I can hear and smell the lie on you. You can either spill it now to me or I'll just get everyone else and we'll all gang up on you until you spill it."
Hermione swallowed. He was all she would have left. She didn't want to push him away now. "Look, I do need to tell you a few things, but you have to swear not to say a word."
Remus nodded. "Okay, I swear."
Hermione shook her head. "No, not just a quick 'yeah, sure I promise.' I need you to really think about this before you promise me."
Remus frowned. "Hermione…are you in some kind of trouble?"
She gave him a small smile. "No. It's nothing like that. I just…I just need you to promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. You can't ask any questions either. You have to take what I tell you and only what I tell you."
Remus didn't understand, but this was obviously important. "Okay, I swear."
Hermione looked at him hard, trying to decide if this was a good idea or not. "Pull out your wand."
Remus' eyes grew wide. "You want a wizard's oath from me?"
Hermione nodded slowly. "I'm sorry Remus, but I have to ask this of you. I wouldn't if it weren't important."
Remus gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. "Okay." He reached for his wand, but Hermione stopped him.
"Not here." She said and began pulling him along again.
She quickly made her way to the Room of Requirement and warded the door once they were inside. "We have to make this quick before the others wonder why we're gone for too long."
Both of them pulled their wands and Remus swore to keep what she was about to tell him to himself and not breath a word of it to anyone. The silver and gold bands wrapped around their wrists locking them into the vow.
Hermione took a final deep breath before starting. "Remus…I'm leaving. Tonight."
Remus opened his mouth to speak but she put up her hand to stop him. "Let me say this before you say anything."
When he nodded she went on. "I don't have a choice. I have to go. When I do leave, I need you to be there for the others. They're not going to understand. Especially Severus."
Remus couldn't hold back this time. "But why are you leaving? Is it your parents? I know you said once that they might move and you might have to leave…but schools almost out. Can't they wait just a few more months? Or at least let you stay in school until the end?"
Hermione shook her head. "No. I have to leave tonight. It can't wait."
Remus stood for a moment thinking before speaking again. "But…it's not like we wont ever see you again. We can keep in contact and see each other after graduation."
Hermione hoped she wasn't making a mistake by telling him this. "You will see me again. But not for many years. In fact, it will be about fifteen years before you'll see me again."
Remus frowned. "Why fifteen years?" He didn't understand.
Hermione took another deep breath. "Remus, the day you first met me here, the day you found me on the common room floor, you guys said I appeared out of nowhere."
Remus nodded. "Yeah, but we must have just missed you or something. Besides, I thought you didn't remember how you got there."
"I do remember, I remembered then too, and you didn't miss me. I did just appear. I was sitting in my common room and my friends knocked into me and made me hit my head." She said slowly, watching him.
Remus' frown deepened. "I don't remember seeing that."
"That's because I wasn't in your common room that day. I was in mine. I was about to spin my necklace, which is a time turner, in the Gryffindor common room, in the year two thousand. I'm...from the future." She said, still watching his reaction.
Remus stared blankly at her for several moments. Then, he started laughing. Laughing so hard he had tears blurring his vision. "Hermione, that is funny. Okay, you got me. Good one."
Hermione sighed. "Remus, I'm not kidding. I was born in nineteen seventy-nine."
Remus laughed again. "Yeah, sure. You were born a year from now. Hermione there is no such thing as time travel. Now how about you get serious and tell me what's really bothering you."
Hermione ran her hands through her hair. "Remus, I'm not joking and I'm not lying. You know I suck at lying anyway. Do I sound, look, or smell like I'm lying?"
Remus paused. She didn't seem like she was lying, but, what she was saying was impossible. "But…okay, lets say I believe you. Why are you telling me now?"
Hermione swallowed, trying to think of how best to explain it when she wasn't really sure herself. "Because you and I are great friends in the future and…I can tell you anything. You have always been there for me in my past." She said with a shrug.
She went on. "That's why I couldn't date you here in this time. You're one of my dearest friends in the future. One of my dearest friends now. I'm not supposed to tell anyone…but I had to tell someone here other than McGonagall or Dumbledore. That's why Dumbledore wants to see me in his office tonight. He's figured out how to send me home. I have to go. I know too much about what all is going to happen."
Remus stood staring at her, letting everything sink in, even as he still wasn't sure he believed it. From the future. She knows me in the future. Fifteen years in the future. No, more than that. Twenty-two years in the future.
Hermione waited for him to say something. Anything.
Finally Remus felt like he could speak again. "So…the future?"
Hermione smiled. "Yeah. Are you okay?"
Remus nodded. "So…how do you know me in the future?"
Hermione laughed. "You were my professor in my third year here at Hogwarts. That's how I met you."
Remus' eyebrows rose. "Really? A professor? Wow. I never thought of teaching. What did I teach?"
Hermione laughed again. "No spoilers. But…you are a great teacher."
Remus chuckled. "So did I get married? Wait...who does Sirius end up marrying? I have to know that. He swears he'll never settle down and I am dying to know with whom he ends up with. I bet its with some vapid, pretty thing that will annoy us all until we want to throttle either her, him, or both."
Hermione sighed, thinking how Sirius never got a chance to settle down and marry anyone. "I can't tell you. This is why I can't stay. I know too much about everyone. I could mess things up with the time line, worse than I already have."
Remus sighed. "Okay. So…what does this mean for you and Severus? Twenty years…that puts him at almost forty years old. Is that going to be a problem for you?"
Hermione swallowed while forcing her chin not to tremble with her sorrow. "I would want to be with Severus no matter what. His age wouldn't be a problem for me. We both know forty isn't old, not by wizard's standards."
Remus frowned. He heard her heart rate speed up as well as her breathing. "Hermione…what aren't you telling me?"
Severus wont be around to turn forty. She thought even as she shook her head. "Nothing that I can tell you. I can't tell you anything else about the future. I only told you what I have because…I don't know if he'll hate me when he learns who I am really. I…couldn't risk you hating me too."
Remus reached over and pulled her into his arms. Hugging her to him as he sighed. "Hermione, I could never hate you. Why don't you just tell him like you did me? He's bound to understand why you can't stay. Do you know him in the future?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes, I do. He hates me. Maybe this is why he hates me so much in the future. Maybe he just hates me because he hates everyone. But I can't tell him. Too much could change if I tell him."
Remus sighed. "With my vow I can't tell him either. I don't know what to tell you Hermione, but…I'm going to miss you."
Hermione felt tears gather in her eyes. "Promise me something."
"What?" Remus asked, leery of making any other promises.
The first tear slipped down her cheek. "Promise me you will always be my friend."
Remus hugged her tighter. "I don't know what the future holds. I don't know what twenty years time will bring. But I promise that I'll always be your friend, Hermione. No matter what."
Hermione sniffed. "Thanks, Remus."
Remus pulled back and wiped at the lone tear running down her face. "So…when I meet you again…you'll be what…thirteen?"
Hermione smiled. "Fourteen. And you can't say anything about having known me before. It could ruin the time line because I wont have any prior knowledge of you. You can be my friend, like I remember us being, but you're going to have to pretend that you just met me. Like I pretended with all of you."
Remus paused as a new thought hit him. "Is that how you knew about me being a werewolf? About Sirius and James too? Is that why I couldn't smell any other wolfs on you other than myself?"
She nodded. "Yes. That's exactly how I knew and why you could only smell yourself. You're the only werewolf I am around on a regular basis."
Remus was glad to have finally figured that one out. He had been wondering how she knew so much. What he had been told had sounded weak. Plausible, but weak.
He frowned as a new thought hit him. "So…when you asked me to climb in bed with you in the hospital wing…had I been in bed with you before?" Wondering if they had been more than friends in her past.
Hermione laughed softly. "Yes, but only in a platonic kind of way." Knowing what he was thinking. "You held me when I had nightmares after…" She couldn't say after the war.
Remus frowned slightly. "After what?"
Hermione shrugged. "I can't tell you. But you did help ease my nightmares. You would talk to me about them and make them go away so I could sleep."
"If you tell me…maybe I can stop…your nightmare from starting." He said gently.
Hermione shook her head. "You can't."
Remus sighed. "So…if I hold you while you sleep…does that mean we end up living together?"
Hermione smiled. "No spoilers. Remember?"
When Remus sighed again, Hermione went on. "I can say that yes we do end up living together. Not just you and me but us and few others. All of us, as friends. You kind of take care of us, but not because you feel like you have to. Because of how close we all end up being."
Remus nodded. "Can you tell me who all us entails?"
Hermione shook her head. If she did, he'd ask why Sirius, or James and Lily, or Severus wasn't included in there. "I can't. It might make you change your mind or even just change things. I wish I could say more, but I can't. I'm sorry."
Again Remus nodded. "So what am I supposed to do with this knowledge of you leaving and where you came from?"
Hermione sighed. "Just be there for the others. Don't let them think that I didn't care at all for them, because I do. I love you all like family. Lily won't understand why I disappeared and won't be at her wedding to James. James won't understand how I could just leave you all like I will. Sirius…I can't imagine how Sirius will react at all. But its Severus I'm mostly worried about. He doesn't have anyone else in his life that cares about him."
Remus swallowed. "So what do you want me to do about him?"
Hermione felt more tears gathering. "Just don't abandon him. Keep an eye on him so he's not alone. Stay in his life no matter how hard he tries to push you away."
Remus hugged her once again. "I'll do my best Hermione. He's not an easy guy sometimes."
Hermione smiled. "I know. But he's a good guy. Please remember that. No matter what. He is a wonderful man who wouldn't hurt anyone unless there was no choice."
Remus frowned. "What does that mean exactly?"
She shook her head. "I can't tell you. Just have faith in him. Faith in me when I tell you that he is a great man inside. It's why I fell in love with him. I know what you'll all do in your life for the next twenty years and he is a very great man. Just…just remember that and have faith in him."
Remus nodded. "Okay. I will."
Hermione pulled away and wiped the tears away that slipped out. "We should get back before everyone wonders why we've been gone so long."
Remus sighed. "They're bound to ask why we disappeared. What do we tell them?"
Hermione laughed. "I don't know. What do you think they'll believe?"
Remus frowned again as he thought about it. "I guess I could say I wanted some advice about a girl. Though I can't imagine who that would be. Plus, Sirius will bug the hell out of me until I tell him who. Then, probably act like an arse about it."
Hermione chuckled. "True. Are you up for a bit hell from them about it? Though I doubt it'll be the focus for long with me leaving."
Remus smiled. "I can take it."
Hermione took a deep breath, pushing her sadness at leaving them all away once again. She could break down about all of this later. She knew she would too. "Okay, lets head back."
Remus touched her arm when she went to move to the door. "Are you okay? This can't be easy for you either."
Hermione's chin trembled but she pushed the tears back. "It's not easy. I don't want to go, but I have to. I'll be fine. This is going to be hardest on all of you. You all wont see me again for so long, and when you do, I'll only be a child who doesn't know you yet."
Remus thought of something else. "With my vow…I wont be able to talk to the others about it when we meet you again."
Hermione realized he was right. "Pull out your wand. We'll make an amendment or try to at least." She'd never tried to change a wizard's oath before.
Remus and Hermione pulled out their wands and they touched the tips once again. She said that his wizards oath to not speak of what she'd told him would break in fifteen years time without any repercussions to those that knew her in nineteen seventy-seven and seventy-eight.
Another silver and gold band of light wrapped around their entwined hands and wrists. Sealing the promise. It was done.
Hermione put her wand away again. "Now, we really must get back. I only have about an hour or so left before I leave. I want to see everyone and kind of say goodbye, as best as I can without drawing suspicion, before I go to Dumbledore."
Remus nodded. "Okay. I'm really going to miss you Hermione. You have become one of my best friends and I can't imagine not seeing you everyday."
Hermione gave him a smile even as her tears threatened again. "I know. But just remember that you will see me again. When I get back…I expect a big hug. So if I one day tackle you and hold you tight…you'll know why."
Remus smiled, feeling a stinging in his eyes at her leaving but fought it. He saw that this was hard on her and she was fighting her own tears. He wouldn't make this any harder on her by crying too. "Well, at least I'll know when you're back so I can say something about your time here."
They unwarded the door and headed back to the Great Hall. Hermione made sure all traces of her sadness and tears were gone before joining the others inside.
Sirius, of course, quickly asked where they disappeared to and after Remus mentioned wanting advice about a girl, Sirius was a total arse as expected. Hermione felt Severus gently probing to get her attention and when he asked where she'd gone she gave him the same answer Remus gave the others.
Severus chuckled saying that Remus would need all the help he could get when it came to girls. Hermione had smiled and told him to be nice. Remus could get any girl if he wanted to. Or at least that's what she told Severus. Severus snickered and told her that she was simply blinded by her friendship.
When dinner was over, she found an excuse to hug each of the Marauders a final time. Making it look easy and merely friendly. Though Remus was the only one who knew why she was doing it.
When she hugged Lily, she realized she squeezed just a bit too hard to be casual about it. Especially when Lily looked at her oddly. Hermione simply shrugged off the odd look. Lily had that same look like she was about to ask more, but Remus intervened and distracted her from it.
Hermione sent him a grateful smile and he gave her a tiny wink back. Severus noticed but knew it wasn't flirtatious so he let it go. Though he did pull Hermione just a bit closer to him when she slipped her arm around his waist.
She saw Dumbledore give her a nod before he disappeared down the hall towards his office. Signaling that he would be waiting for her when she was done saying goodbye.
Hermione swallowed, knowing she only had a few minutes before she had to go meet the Headmaster in the circular room beyond the gargoyle statue. She quickly told the others she'd see them later, knowing she wouldn't, and pulled Severus outside.
Walking a little away from the castle, she turned to him and kissed him. It wasn't soft or gentle. It was passionate, almost desperate. Which was what she felt. Desperate. She was losing him and she wasn't sure she would survive leaving.
When Severus pulled away from her, a frown marring his features, she gave him a beautiful smile and wrapped her arms around him again. Holding him tightly to her.
"I love you Severus." She whispered, feeling her tears threatening again but forced them away.
Severus didn't understand her actions at all. "I love you too, Hermione. Are you okay? You seem…off tonight. In fact, you've seemed a bit off the last few days."
Hermione nodded against his chest. "I'm fine. I just…I don't know…I guess I am a little bit off. But then, you've always thought I was kind of odd so why should now be any different?"
Severus smirked. "That's true, I suppose. But this seems different. Are you sure you're okay? You can talk to me, you know. About anything."
Hermione's chin wobbled and she was glad he couldn't see her face. She closed her eyes and breathed him in, trying to calm the storm she could feel building in her. The huge wave of sobs that she knew would hit very soon.
She took a moment and made sure she could speak without her voice cracking. "I know I can tell you anything. But really, I'm fine. I just…I just wanted to feel you hold me before I go."
Severus frowned. "Go?"
Hermione realized what she said and quickly amended her statement. "Yes, go talk to Dumbledore. I don't know how long I'll be tonight, so I'll just go back to my dorm afterward."
Severus' frown deepened. "Your dorm? Are you not going to stay with me in the Room of Requirement tonight?"
Hermione shook her head as her eyes tried to water. "Not tonight. I figure this might take a while and I don't know if anyone would see me head that way. I don't want either of us getting in trouble. Since it's about my future after leaving here, I'm positive it wont be a quick meeting."
Severus still didn't understand why Dumbledore wanted to talk to her about her plans after graduating Hogwarts but he was sure the old wizard had his reasons. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then. We could meet in the library before breakfast."
Hermione closed her eyes again. She wouldn't be there in the morning and didn't want him simply waiting for her for nothing. "Let's see how late I end up sleeping in." She said vaguely. Wishing she could tell him. Wishing she could warn him about what was coming. Wishing she could change things so he'd live and be there when she returned.
Severus nodded and simply held her.
A few minutes passed and the whole time Hermione was trying to soak him in. Memorizing every detail about him so she would at least have her memories to keep with her later.
Finally, she knew she had to let him go or he'd become suspicious, or at least more so than he seemed now. She composed her face and discretely waved her hand to vanish any traces of tears that might have slipped out.
Not able to help herself, she gave him a final, gentle kiss that almost broke her before pulling back and taking his hand to walk inside. He walked with her to the gargoyle statue that protected Dumbledore's office.
With a kiss on the top of her hand along with a small smile, he let her go and walked back to his dorm. She said the password and as she climbed the stairs, her tears threatened to fall again. Her steps were slow since her feet felt heavy.
She paused outside the door before knocking and going inside. Minerva was there waiting for her as well. Seeing Hermione, the older woman moved to her and embraced her.
"I'm so sorry, Hermione. I wish things could be different." She muttered as she held the young woman. But Hermione refused to let her tears fall. She would leave with her chin held high if she could.
But a few slipped out anyway. No matter how hard she tried to keep them back. "I know, Minerva, I do too. But it can't be, and…I have to go."
Minerva's eyes were glistening with her own tears. "Have you said your goodbyes, as best as you can anyway?"
Hermione nodded as her chin trembled again. She bit her lip to stop it before speaking. "Yes. I hugged them all. I told Remus about me."
Her words making the other two in the room pause in astonishment, but Hermione went on. "But only after making him take a wizard's oath not to speak of it until my third year. I had to tell him so he could be prepared to help the others deal with my disappearance. I trust Remus, but I had to make him promise so he didn't slip up by accident. He's all I'll have left out of any of them. I couldn't leave him in the dark."
Dumbledore nodded. "I understand, my dear. You were right to tell him. Clever to make him take the oath too. Your secret will be safe that way and he'll know that he'll see you again one day. Do you need a minute or are you ready to begin?"
Hermione took a deep breath. "I'm ready, but I don't think we should do this here. In case there is anyone in your office when I return or…if I end up in the wrong time."
Dumbledore nodded. "Good point. Where do you suggest then?" Though he had a feeling he knew.
Hermione swallowed. "The Room of Requirement. Not just anyone goes in there and…I know I didn't go there much during my seventh year in my time. Neither did Harry or Ron for that matter."
Again Dumbledore nodded. "If you are sure that is the wisest place to be, then that is where we'll do it."
The three slowly made their way there, after Dumbledore retrieved the time turner from his desk. The door to the Room of Requirement opened to show the cozy scene that Hermione always got when she and Severus would be in there while he read to her. The sofa looked inviting as always as it sat ready for someone to use it. Seeing it almost made her crumble, but she held fast and lifted her chin just a bit higher.
Hermione moved to the stand in the center of the room and waited. Dumbledore took out the necklace and handed it to her. After she'd put it on, she looked to him for further instructions.
When he didn't speak Hermione frowned, but Dumbledore finally spoke before she could ask anything. "Now Hermione, if something goes wrong and you end up too far ahead. Just slowly spin the dial one turn for every hour back to get to your time."
Hermione nodded and he went on. "Going forward is a bit different. I'm not sure why it's different, but it is. It's a fourth of a spin forward for each day. A half spin takes you forward a week. A full spin will take you ahead a whole year. So you will have to count your spins. I have calculated everything from what we've discussed and it will be twenty-one full spins, forty-nine half spins, and three quarter spins. Have you got that Hermione?"
Hermione nodded. "Twenty-one full spins, forty-nine half spins, and three quarter spins. Got it."
Dumbledore nodded as well. "If you're too far ahead then just turn it back a single spin per hour until it's right. Otherwise, you might just have to hide out for a few hours until the time matches up. I'm not sure what time of day it will drop you in so you might be a few hours early or late depending on how it goes."
Hermione nodded again. "I got it."
Minerva had been silent, but she was curious now. "Albus, it wont age her twenty years will it?"
Dumbledore smiled. "No, my dear. It will keep her safe in a bubble, as it were, so she won't age even a single hour. No one should see her either while she's moving in time."
Hermione had wondered the same thing, though she was fairly certain it wouldn't add to her age. It hadn't taken any of her age away when she went back so it shouldn't when going forward either.
Both women nodded at his answer and Minerva went to hug Hermione again. "I'm going to miss you, Hermione. I know I'll get to watch you grow up and I'm looking forward to it. But it wont be the same as seeing you now and…I'll still miss you."
Hermione smiled and fought her tears again. "I know it's not the same for me. I'll see you again in just a few moments. But…you're right it wont be the same. Even when I get back…it'll have been twenty years for you so it might be a bit weird at first. So don't be mad if I suddenly come to see you out of the blue and start to cry on your shoulder."
Minerva smiled as a tear slipped down as she pulled back. "I wont, dear. Though I'm sure I'll ask what's wrong just to be sure its you now and not you from before you came here."
Hermione nodded, and then turned to Dumbledore. "Sir…I…" She didn't know what to say. He wouldn't be there when she got back and he knew it.
Dumbledore smiled. "I know Hermione. I know. Just give me a hug and all will be well."
Hermione went into his open arms. Turning her head and whispering softly. "Don't try to destroy the ring. We'll find another way to deal with it. We'll eventually figure out how to destroy the other horcruxes, so we'll just destroy it then. Please just survive." Though she knew it was impossible. Severus had to kill him at the end of her sixth year to prove his loyalty to Voldemort.
Dumbledore gave her a squeeze while keeping his voice low too. "Let me worry about it now. But you and I both know it won't matter in the end. It has to happen my dear."
Hermione fought her tears again, though her vision was a bit blurry when she looked up at him. "I know. But…"
He cut her off. "No buts." He gave her a fond smile and softly stroked her cheek. "I do look forward to watching you grow into stunning young woman over the years. In mind, as well as in body. Now, it's time Hermione. You have to go."
A thought struck him suddenly. "Oh, one last thing. There is no telling who you might see on your return. So..." With a wave of his hand, her clothes changed back into her school uniform and robes. Her hair in her normal messy bun like it always was during her classes. "Better to have you in uniform, like you arrived, just in case."
Hermione nodded slowly. "Right. I didn't think of that."
She stepped back and reached for her necklace before she lost what courage she had. She counted out each full turn, then each half turn, and finally each quarter turn. Letting it go, she watched the room freeze and slowly speed up.
Dumbledore and Minerva were gone in an instant.
Several bodies appeared in the room and disappeared in a blink of an eye. So fast she couldn't tell who they might have been.
She saw many things happen in the room, all blurred so she couldn't tell what it was. People coming and going the room changing many times, but still all blurred. A few times she thought she saw Harry, Ron, and herself but couldn't be sure. Then, she saw a large group and thought it was all of them with Dumbledore's Army, but again wasn't sure.
She saw the room suddenly engulfed in flames and then it was gone quickly. The only time she knew of the room burning was during the final battle.
Finally, it was still. Nothing was moving and the time turner had stopped spinning.
She was back. Or at least somewhere new.
Everyone was gone and she was alone in the room that was back to looking like her cozy scene again.
The storm she knew was coming hit her. Her knees buckled and she hit the floor as her sobs were torn from her. A multitude of tears streaking down her cheeks as her chest exploded in pain as she felt as if her heart was quickly shredding into tiny pieces. They were gone. All of them. Lily, James, Sirius, and worst of all Severus was gone too.
She'd never see them again and as the thought ran through her mind over and over again, more sobs were ripped from deep down inside her. The sounds of her anguish echoing off the walls around her.
A/N: Okay, I'm out of tissue. Time to dig out a new box. lol.
Alright, more coming soon. I hope you all liked how I showed her leaving and coming back to her future or the present, depending on how you look at it. Take care everyone and please leave me your thoughts.