DISCLAIMER: The characters of the Harry Potter Universe are the sole property of J.K. Rowling. Canon characters and plots are not owned by me nor do I make any profit from this fic.

. . . but a girl can dream . . .

BETA: Many, many thanks to ShayaLonnie for taking on the task of Beta, you're amazing!

Chapter 2

Hermione woke suddenly, pulled from unconsciousness, gasping for air. A strong light, temporarily blinded her as a sharp ticking sound pulsed through her throbbing head. She panicked. Unaware of her surroundings, she swept her hands over her body, searching for her wand.

"Miss," a voice called out through the light, the sound was hollow and distant in the chaos resonating within her head. "You've had an accident. Can you hear me?" She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision as the face of a man slowly broke through the glaring light. He spoke to her slowly, his eyes portraying concern, yet his presence, hovering over her aching body, caused her to pull away, an act she regretted immediately when she was overwhelmed by a sharp pain in her side. A large hand gripped her by the shoulder with surprising softness and she was shocked to see yet another man- this one seemingly much older than the first- standing over her. He smiled at her softly as he knelt by her side.

"You seemed to have had a bit of a rough night, little one," the older man said softly. "My friend Saul here was quite surprised to find you in his office," he added, motioning to the man that now stood behind him. She looked up at the person standing over her, wondering if she recognize him? He did seem familiar, but she couldn't quite place him.

"Now little one, we would like to help you very much. However, it is essential that you answer a few of our questions first. You must only answer the questions we ask, that is very important. Do you understand?" She nodded hesitantly, watching warily as he raised a wand and muttered, "Finite."

" Please . . . " she rasped and found the disturbing taste of blood lingering on her tongue. The elderly man, noticing her discomfort, conjured a glass of water for her. The cuff of his left sleeve fell back slightly as he held the glass up to her split and swollen lips and she studied the skin there.

He noticed the direction her gaze traveled and laughed humorlessly. "Looking for something?" he asked as he slid first his right then his left sleeves up to the joint of his elbows revealing thin, unblemished arms. "A tattoo perhaps? I always wanted a hippogriff myself, but the missus strongly disagreed. How about you Saul?" he asked, his eyes never leaving hers. "Janet ever let you get one? Bet you'd look fine with a dancing lady, eh?"

"Wha— ? Oh, oh no," Saul said as he quickly pushed back the sleeves of his robes. "None for me," he declared holding out both arms that, like his friend's, were unblemished but for a few freckles. Hermione made to speak again yet the elderly man raised his hand quickly, signaling her to wait.

"Please," he began soothingly. "I know you're confused right now and I'm sure you have many questions. All we ask is that you let us speak first and then, if we have not soothed your worries, you may let us know when we have finished. I willingly give you my oath as a wizard that we mean you no harm."

She watched as a soft light encompassed the tip of his wand, glowed softly for a moment, then pulsed once brightly before fading into nothingness. She blinked up at him slowly, recognising the signs of binding magic. He had made an actual wizard's oath to her and his magic accepted and sealed it. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest as she slowly nodded in consent.

"Very good. Now I'm going to ask you a few questions and you needn't speak yet a simple nod will do just fine. Do you understand?" he asked.

She squared her shoulders and met his eyes with a cool determination and nodded firmly, making not one sound.

"Very good. Now, you've been injured; it's nothing too serious. You do have a broken rib, but that's the worst of it other than a few cuts and scrapes. Do you remember how this happened?"

Chaos. Running. Screams. Flashes of lights flying through the air.

Nod.

"Good. Do you know where you are?"

She glanced around the brightly lit room and her eyes were drawn to the sparkling bell jar with its dazzling glow and delicate hummingbird. It's Time . . . Time.

Nod.

"Wonderful, wonderful." He smiled encouragingly as his friend, Saul, stepped forward and placed something into his hand. "Now, I'm going to show you an object. I need to know if you are familiar with it," he said as he began to lift his left hand from where it sat clasped over the object in his right.

She watched as a long chain slowly rose from his right hand; It was delicate and shone brightly as the room's light glittered off its length and grew longer and longer until it swung free from the palm of his right hand, revealing a delicate pendant hanging from the end.

A pendant in the shape of an hourglass surrounded by two fine rings. Time.

She gasped as the jumbled thoughts and images in her head began to come together, fitting themselves into the current situation in which she found herself. Here with these two men in what was, assuming she identified it correctly, the Time Room deep within the Ministry of Magic. In the Department of Mysteries. She took in her surroundings once more, this time looking past the surface and into the details. There was a sense of controlled chaos in the room. Clocks and timepieces littered every available surface, yet they appeared in reasonable order. There were no signs of battle. No signs of any spell damage which she could see from her place laid out on a settee. There were no signs of her friends and she was suddenly struck with a thought she found most disturbing: she was alone.

Hermione gazed up at the two men standing before her, at the Time-Turner swaying gently at the end of its long shimmering chain, and nodded.

The second man, Saul, stepped forward now his eyes seemed sad as he addressed her, "Would it be safe to say that your knowledge of a Time-Turner extends to its basic use and safety measures?"

Nod.

"I'd like to allow you to speak now. I ask you to tell us what you understand about the uses and rules pertaining to Time-Turners. Just the basics," Saul said.

She looked between the two men once more. Saul wore robes similar to what she had read was the uniform of an Unspeakable, robes deep purple in color and, though it was pulled back at the moment, what looked to be a large hood which, when in place, would surely leave his face firmly encased in shadows. The elder man was a mystery. He wore traditional wizarding robes with no identifying markings as to what his place here in the Department of Mysteries might be, yet Saul acquiesced to him. They spoke kindly and she did not feel threatened; she was alone in their presence as well as unarmed and they had both proven they were unmarked. Though not all who followed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wore the mark.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she let the facts flow through her mind. Fact: she was alone and she was unarmed.

She exhaled slowly. Fact: she was injured; the pain in her side would slow any escape she might attempt.

Deep breath in. Fact: if she had Travelled these men might be her only hope.

She exhaled as she opened her eyes and gazed up into the worried expressions of the two men. All she had in this moment was hope. She took a deep breath once more to center herself. It was all or nothing, she was placed into Gryffindor for a reason after all. As she exhaled once more she began to talk, vaguely aware of a voice in the back of her mind praying to Merlin that Snape hadn't, in fact, been correct in his assumption that Gryffindors were chosen for their foolishness.

"Sir, Time-Turners are used to send the person or persons who wear them travelling through time. For every hour Travelled, the Time-Turner must be turned once. The maximum use of a Turner extending back just five total hours. Time-Turners are potentially dangerous and thus are protected by the Ministry of Magic, who only give them out in very special circumstances. The consequences of using Time-Turners can be very serious; many wizards who have meddled with time, it's been reported, have ended up killing their past or future selves by mistake, not understanding how or why they are able to see themselves. In cases such as that of Eloise Mintumble, a witch working for the Department of Mysteries in the Time Division, Travel to the year 1402 was reported. In her five days spent in the past, her presence is believed to have caused great disturbance to the life paths of all those she met, changing the course of their lives so dramatically that no fewer than twenty-five of their descendants vanished in the present, having been un-born." She took a deep breath before mumbling, "if you believe such things."

The two men sat slack-jawed before her momentarily. "Well, you certainly do know your facts on Time-Turners don't you? That was quite a textbook definition if I do say so myself and having written said definition personally, I feel it is within my rights to say so. You don't seem to believe it though do you? Tell me, what do you find in my works to be untrue?"

Hermione released a strangled groan. Sweet Mother of Merlin! Great job Granger. This is the author of 'The Rules of Temporal Engagement' and you basically just implied you found his theory bogus, to his face no less!

"W- well . . . well, yes." She paused to take a deep breath, centering herself before continuing. "I do find fault in the supposition that one can make any changes to the timeline. The theories, the stories, you would have us believe don't seem to be based on any true facts. The tales of wizards who have meddled with time ending up killing their past selves by mistake, for example. How is it that you would even know? How do you kill your past self yet still exist in the present having already died?

"As for the case of Eloise Mintumble," she scoffed, "they say upon arriving back in her present time, she immediately aged 500 years and died, died! And we know she caused people to be 'un-born' how exactly? If this were true, there would never have been record of their existence in the first place as they were never born!" She threw her hands up at this in exasperation. "Not to mention the fact that each Time-Turner holds a single One-Hour Time Reversing Charm meaning you have to turn the hourglass a single rotation for each hour of reversal, that would mean over four million turns to reach 500 years."

She watched as the elder man placed a hand on Saul's shoulder and turned so they both faced away from her as they spoke in hushed voices. This was it; whatever happened next, she'd deal with it head held high. They turned back to face her after a moment and the elder man stepped forward to address her this time.

"Interesting opinions you have there,"he said. "You seem quite young to have such a strong view on the subject of time. Tell me, have you by chance used a Turner of your own in the past?" he asked, his eyes seeming to search hers for something.

Well, she thought, I have nothing to hide here. Professor McGonagall had gone through countless forms and she had had to get numerous letters of recommendation for her use of a Turner in third year. Still though, they don't know about Sirius and the Dementors or Buckbeak . . . do they?

"I-I did make use of a Turner for educational purposes in my third year," she supplied.

"I see," he said as he ran a finger over his lips. "And you never thought to use the Turner for any unapproved personal reasons? It seems that would be quite the temptation to a child of thirteen. Your Headmaster must have felt you extremely trustworthy to place such an object in your possession."

And here it was, her chance to get help to her friends . . . she hoped.

"Sir, I can honestly tell you I have never used a Time-Turner for unapproved personal reasons. All my use of the Turner was performed under the understanding and, in some cases, direct guidance of my Headmaster." And there is was, laid before them. It was a risk, especially with the Minister and the media's current view of the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Her heart was pounding rapidly as the two men watched her, both clearly deep in thought. Saul seemed almost nervous as he glanced between her and a cabinet on the far wall, his brow furrowed. The elderly gentleman watched her calmly with his head tilted to the side slightly, his warm hazel eyes alive with peaked curiosity.

"That's very interesting indeed. Tell me, during any of your approved use of this Time-Turner, under the guidance of your Headmaster, did you happen to have any experience that may lead you to find fault in my friend's research? Perhaps you have your own personal reasons for thinking otherwise?"the elder man asked.

In for a Knut, in for a Galleon. "I did, in fact, have such an experience. A friend and I were entrusted with a . . . a task. We were asked to Travel back three hours time to right a great injustice. In doing so, we were able to rescue two innocents— "

"You knowingly changed history!" Saul gasped. "On what, the . . . the whim of a school teacher? Does the man not understand the risk to our world? You can not just change a person's destiny; you can't simply play with people like pawns on a chessboard!"

"Despite what some would care to believe, sir, Albus Dumbledore is a great wizard, not a mere school teacher," Hermione stated firmly. "If you had let me finish I would have told you that we did not change the future in any way."

"Oh, you didn't, did you? How could you not have when you say yourself you saved two innocents?" Saul asked.

"We did save them, but we changed nothing. We came upon dementors during our rescue attempt," she began. "No, no questions," she pleaded when the elder man looked to interrupt. "Let me say this, please. We came upon a group of dementors attacking our other selves. We knew this had happened already and we were saved by a mysterious Patronus. So, we waited for some wizard to come and save us but none came. My friend, he had had some lessons on Patronus Charms and attempted one yet it wasn't a full Patronus; the Dementors were so strong, yet we had seen a Patronus coming towards us and well . . . it's so hard to explain, but he'd seen this Patronus and somehow he knew it was himself casting it. It gave him the confidence that he could do it and he did. He produced a full Patronus because he knew that somehow he had been able to do it before. Do you understand? We couldn't change things because we already had. WE were the catalyst; we caused it all yet changed nothing." She let her head fall back against the settee in exhaustion.

"Novikov's self-consistency conjecture," Saul stated, a small smile lifting the corner of his lips.

"Mind explaining for the laymen in the room?" asked the elderly man.

"Simply put, if someone were to travel back in time no changes could ever occur as it has all happened before. Interesting theory," Saul said as he turned back to Hermione." And you came to this conclusion as well did you?" he asked, "You're what? Sixteen years old?"

"Seventeen, sir. After the year-long use of a Time-Turner, of course," Hermione supplied.

Saul actually chuckled a bit at this, "Of course."

"So, if a wizard were to Travel to the past to change an event, it would not work because in changing the event the wizard would never have had a reason to make the trip to begin with," the elder man said, nodding in understanding.

"On and on it goes, the Traveler acts as a catalyst in any event they try and alter," Saul agreed, "and here we are."

"And here we are. I do believe this all leads us right back to you and your appearance here this evening, does it not?" the elder man asked.

"I believe it may indeed, sir," she stated firmly, her eyes never leaving his.

"Let's get straight to it then, shall we? Saul and I believe you have Travelled here to be with us tonight. Do you agree?" he asked.

"I've come to that conclusion as well."

"So this was not a planned trip?"

"No. There was a fight, a battle. I think, somehow, I triggered a Time-Turner and wound up here," she said before taking a deep breath and pushing on, "I do, however, think this could be a very good thing. We . . . we could get help. We can let the Aurors know what's going to happen in a few hours and be prepared," she said eagerly.

"Yet you said yourself that the future can not be changed," Saul said.

"Well, not changed, but if they knew what was going to happen, they would be able to be ready. They could wait a bit and storm in when they least expect it!" Hermione supplied eagerly.

The two men exchanged a look and turned toward her once more. The elderly man addressed her softly, "Herein lies the problem, little one. You are under the impression that you Travelled a few hours. We, however, are unsure of the length of your trip."

"What?" she asked. "How can you be unsure? A Time-Turner travels a maximum of five hours. So what time is it now? It had to have been around eleven or so when I Travelled, so it can't be any earlier than six in the evening. That's not a big problem. You can hide me surely."

"It is currently half three in the morning, my dear." Saul supplied sadly.

"Half three? How is that even possible? Y-you said I Travelled. Everyone knows you can't Travel forward in time," she said as a cold feeling of dread began to settle in her stomach.

"Some Turners travel hours, these are used by Ministry employees under the strictest security," Saul explained. "There are others, however, that Travel weeks or months; these remain here in the Time Division and are studied by my colleagues and myself."

"Weeks . . . months?" She gasped.

"But— "

"No! No but, no we-we . . . just hide me. Or-or we contact Dumbledore, maybe he's still at the school? Has the Toad taken over yet?" She could feel panic rising in her chest. Weeks. Months. How could this have happened? She needed to help her friends and now she'd just have to sit back and wait for her timeline to catch up. Just sit here and do nothing.

"Please, little one, you must stay calm and listen closely now," the elder man implored her. "Let Saul explain the situation to you, this is his area of expertise."

She struggled to focus her attention on to Saul, willing her pulse to slow.

"Now, while a Turner's typical Distance of Travel can be predetermined, some of our rarer pieces work along with other magical factors such as charms, potions, and the most powerful, Blood Magic," Saul explained. "We have reason to believe Blood Magic may have played a factor in your Travel."

"Blood Magic? No, that's impossible, I would never use Dark Magic!" Hermione insisted.

"Not all Blood Magic is Dark, and we don't believe you willingly set out to use it," the elderly man said. "You see, when Saul found you, you were surrounded by several broken Turners. You also were covered in small cuts and a significant amount of the Turner's sands as well."

"We believe you may have unknowingly triggered Blood Magic when the Sands of Time mixed with your open wounds. Now, don't panic. While your jump may have been more significant than you originally thought, it may not be all that far off," Saul explained. "You say Albus Dumbledore is Headmaster of Hogwarts, and that is quite true in our current time."

He said the last bit in hopes, she assumed, to lighten the weight currently bearing down on her chest.

"With all due respect, sir, Professor Dumbledore has been Headmaster of Hogwarts for several generations. Please, tell me what the current date is," she begged.

"Very well," the elder man said as he reached out to hold her hand. "We must, however, caution you that it is of utmost importance to remember the rules of Time Travel. Though you may be correct in your assumption that Time works as a loop, it could still be a very real danger to yourself and others if word got out that you were a Traveler," he cautioned her. "My friend Saul is, first and foremost, an Unspeakable stationed in the Time Division. If he believes you are a danger to the Timeline, or to witches or wizards in our time, measures will be taken. Do you understand what this means?"

She glanced back and forth between the two men once again. Their faces were stern and serious, yet their eyes held a certain sadness. The sadness is for me, she thought, they don't want to take measures against me. She nodded firmly. She understood the measures that would be taken and accepted them.

"So be it," Saul stated. "It is currently approaching four a.m. on the twenty-third of June in the year nineteen seventy-eight."

A/N: So, Let me know what you think. This is new to me and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!