Note: I feel like this might make or break it for some people. Please give it a chance and read to the end of the chapter?

Chapter 7

There was pain, and light with no air.

There was an unrelenting pressure surrounding her.

And then it was gone in an instant.

"Hermione?"

Harry? Was that Harry?

She could feel herself collapse, her legs giving out from under her. Her eyes blinked open. It was dark. There was someone looming over her.

"I think she's in shock, mate."

"You think she is..." the voice trailed off. "I am in shock."

It was the voices of her friends. She allowed the darkness to encompass her, and she knew no more.

When she woke up, she was in bed. It wasn't just any bed. It was her bed. Her bed at Grimmauld. Her brows furrowed in confusion. But how?

Slowly she thought back to what had happened before. Thorin, and the other man, (or dwarf? her mind supplied), had been talking in whispered voices, and then they had slept, Thoring on watch. She had been sleeping before being woken by a pounding in her head. And then everything had suddenly changed. The spell that had originally brought her there had flared to life, and now she was here. Had Ron and Harry found her? She seemed to remember that they might have. It would explain her current position.

She looked around the room. It looked mostly the same as it had when she had been there last week, although it looked like some of her things had shifted slightly. It seemed cleaner and the chair that was normally at her desk had been left by the bedside.

She was still taking in the room, when the door was softly pushed open. Her eyes snapped over to the door, and a familiar red-head appeared.

"Ginny," she said, though it came out more as a rasp, her throat dry.

Despite this, she was rewarded with a vibrant smile as the young woman sat down the tray of food on the bedside table and quickly enveloped Hermione in a tight hug. "Hermione." She didn't know if she had ever heard her name said with so much hope and joy. "We thought we had lost you forever."

Hermione could not help but feel tears forming in her own eyes. "I'm back though. Really back," she said, her own voice giving her confidence. She was back. Back home. Thank Merlin.

Ginny pulled back, and Hermione was able to get a better look at her friend. She seemed somehow different, but Hermione could not for the life of her put her finger on what it was.

"Yes, you are," she said, a smile still gracing her lips. "Are you hungry? I brought up some cereal and fruit, for when you woke up."

"Yes," Hermione began, before a thought struck her. "Ginny, it was Dolohov that attacked me. He's the one! You guys need to warn the Auroras that he could still be here in London somewhere."

Hermione had been expecting easy acceptance from her friend, not a sad and pained look. Ginny's hand reached out to take hers. "We know," Ginny said softly. "We caught him about a year and a half ago."

"A year and a half ago, but I have only been gone for a week!" She exclaimed, her hand tightening around Ginny's.

"It has been two years since you disappeared, Hermione."

Hermione could feel herself going lightheaded as she continued to stare at her friend. That was what was different. What she had not been able to put her finger on moments ago. Ginny looked older. Not by much, but enough that she looked ever so slightly different. Hermione looked down at their hands.

There was a ring on Ginny's finger.

Ginny must have noticed her looking at it. "We got married about six months ago."

"Ginny," Hermione moaned. "What happened to me?"

"We don't fully understand it," Ginny replied her voice choked. "By Merlin, Hermione, we have all been so frightened for you." There was a pause and Ginny's hand tightened around her own again. "Look, Harry and Ron had to go into work. They didn't want to draw any suspicion. The media will have a big enough of a field day when they realize that you're back. They will be back later this afternoon. We'll all talk then."

"But do you know anything, Ginny," Hermione asked desperately. "What happened?"

"Some, but not enough. Harry and Ron have a better understanding of it. But let's not talk about it right now. You need to eat. Harry and Ron said you were all but unconscious when you appeared."

Hermione sat there, still as stone as she watched Ginny pour a small glass of milk into the bowl of cereal. Of all of the things that had happened to her thus far, this seemed to be, by far, the most unreal. Two years. It was too much. She could deal with dwarves, and faraway lands, and even dragons. But to have missed two years of time with her friends, her family. It was too much.

Ginny looked up, and offered her a weak smile before pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket. "Please don't cry," she said, as she began to wipe away the tears Hermione had not quite realized had begun to run down her cheeks.

"I missed your wedding, Ginny."

"It's okay," Ginny replied soothingly, her hand running softly through Hermione's hair. "It wasn't your fault."

"But I missed it," Hermione said again, her voice cracking and her vision blurring because of the tears.

"Shhh. Wait right here," Ginny said softly as she stood up and placed a light comforting kiss to Hermione's temple. "I will be right back."

Hermione watched as Ginny left the room, and she brought her hand up, fiercely brushing away the tears that stained her cheeks.

Her mind was tumbling through everything that this meant. Her friends and her family. She had missed so much time with them. Things had changed, and she had no idea what this new reality held in store for her. Despite having brushed away the tears, she could not help it as more slowly continued to leak from her eyes.

Even when things had seemed their worst while fighting in the war against Voldemort, she had always had her friends at her side, fighting the same fight. Now she was alone in this. They did not all share the same fate anymore. Things were different.

When she had been younger, and had been using the time turner to fulfill her lust for academics, she had briefly pondered upon whether gaining close to six months in age would really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. Of course it had not; she still saw her friends, classmates and teachers every day. Now, however, things were running backwards.

She had missed two years, and had not seen any of her friends. Her stomach twisted in knots as she thought of all of the things she had missed. Birthdays, weddings, parties and gatherings. Important moments in her friend's lives that she had missed and would never be able to fully reclaim.

She was wiping at her cheeks again when Ginny returned.

"Here, budge over," her friend said as she clamored up onto the bed next to her. In her hands, Ginny held a book. A photo album to be precise. "I know it is not the same thing," Ginny explained as she shifted a bit to get comfortable, "but I can at least showthe pictures to you."

Hermione found herself quickly throwing her arms around Ginny. "Oh, Ginny," she sobbed.

Ginny was rubbing small circles in her back, and slowly, Hermione found that she was beginning to breathe a bit easier.

"It will be alright," Ginny whispered in her ear, before taking Hermione's shoulders and sitting her up so she could look into her eyes. "We are all going to make this better."

Hermione found herself nodding at Ginny's calming words, and then looked back down at the album that had been awkwardly crushed between them. "Will you show me the pictures?" Hermione asked with a sniff.

"Of course."

Hermione had fallen back asleep after Ginny had finished showing her the photo album, and judging by the light that was falling through her window, it was now close to dusk. Ginny wasn't there anymore, and was presumably somewhere else in the house. She felt calmer than she had before, but the tight knot of barely controlled panic that had settled into her stomach had not left her.

Pushing her blankets off, Hermione slowly made her way out of bed, wincing slightly as her feet touched the cool hardwood floor. She had not noticed before, but she was wearing her own pajamas. Fingering the soft waistband of the flannel pants, Hermione could not help but frown a bit at them. They seemed somehow out of place after her misadventures with Thorin.

Shaking her head of the thought, she brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face and went in search of Ginny.

The house was much the same as it had been beforehand. The paintings that they had determined were harmless enough were still hanging from the hooks, just as they had beforehand. There were some new things here and there though. A picture of Ginny and Harry here, a new knick-knack there. It was disconcerting to notice the small changes.

She made her way down the stairs and could hear muffled voices coming from the kitchen. Reminiscent of the days when the Order of the Phoenix had occupied the house, Hermione found herself softly stepping up the closed door and listening to what was being said.

"...tell her eventually."

It was Ron's voice, and Hermione could not help but smile a bit, and she almost opened the door before she heard Harry.

"I just don't think we should tell her quite yet. Especially if she was as shocked as Ginny says she was."

"But she has the right to know, Harry!" Ginny said, her voice getting slightly shrill. Maybe they had been discussing this for a while. "It is her life. It is going to affect her."

"You don't think I don't know that?"

"You can't keep it from her forever, Mate."

"I just don't think she has to know today, or even tomorrow! Let her get used to the idea that she has missed two years," Harry explained.

Hermione found herself pushing open the door then. Whatever it was that they were discussing, it was about her. Silence meet her as her eyes adjusted quickly to the slightly brighter room. Harry was standing in the middle of the room, his gaze locked on her. Ginny was sitting at the kitchen table, while Ron was leaning up against the counter.

Everyone stood still.

And just as suddenly as everything had stopped moving, there was a flurry of motion. Hermione found herself caught up in the arms of both Harry and Ron as they hugged her.

There were no words offered, but Hermione could feel the tension fade further from her as she was embraced by her two oldest friends.

The both pulled back. "It's good to see you up," Harry said, his voice full of emotion. "Hell, it is good to just see you."

Ron was squeezing her shoulder so much that it almost hurt. "Merlin, we have missed you, Hermione."

"It is good to see you, too." Hermione said as she looked at both of them

They stood like that for what seemed like a lifetime, just soaking up the others presences. It was only broken when, Hermione's stomach made itself known and let out a low soft groan.

They were laughing then, and Ginny was standing next to them. "Let her sit down. I will get started on dinner."

Hermione found herself sitting at the table, a small cup of steaming tea in her hands as Harry and Ron sat down at the adjacent sides of the table.

"Tell me what happened," Hermione asked them both. It seemed to freeze both Harry and Ron, and Hermione could not help but notice the meaningful glance that they shared.

"Can't we talk about it later?" Harry asked his shoulders tense as he looked at Hermione.

Hermione shook her head, "I want to know."

"Go on," Ginny encouraged.

"Fine." It was with a heavy sigh that Harry started talking and Hermione found her attention glued to him. "It was a nightmare," he started before pausing. "Just absolutely awful. You didn't show up that night. At first we thought maybe you were just working extra late. But after midnight when you still weren't home we started to get worried. It wasn't until the morning that we suspected that something was really wrong. You always came home."

Harry sipped at his own tea, his eyes having taken on a faraway look as he stared off into the room.

"We went the Auror's and filed a missing persons report. It created uproar, of course. A war hero missing," Harry said with a sigh as he ran his hand through his messy hair. "Everyone was looking for you, Hermione. And not just the auroras. Well-meaning citizens were too!"

"Bill and Charlie even came back to help," Ron supplied.

Harry nodded in agreement. "Everyone was looking. We found more of the remaining death eaters in the following two weeks than we had in the past two months!"

"But did you find him? Dolohov?" Hermione asked.

"No. Not then. We didn't find him until six months later, and by then we had started losing hope that we would ever pick up your trail."

"We had him in custody for about two weeks, before we even suspected that he knew anything about your disappearance. We finally resorted to veritaserum to get the truth out of him," Ron said, picking up the story. "The media had another field day when they caught wind that we had finally found a lead on you."

"And did he tell you about when he did? The spell he used?" Hermione prompted, leaning forward on the table.

"He did." Harry said, a strange bitterness seeming to encompass his words.

"And," Hermione said, looking pleadingly at her friend. His face was grave, and Hermione could feel the tension settling back into her very bones. "What was it?"

"An old family curse it would seem," Ginny said as she sat down across the table from Hermione, taking her hand in her own. "We don't know how to undo it," she said softly, as she squeezed Hermione's hand. "But if anyone can figure it out, it will be you."

"What does it do," she asked quietly as she looked between her friends.

"As far as we can tell," Harry started, "it interferes with the victim's relationship to time and location. There have only been a few accounts we have been able to find." Harry paused and took another long sip of his tea, before putting it down and looking resolutely at the table top. "After they are cursed the victim pops in and out of the time stream, but it always becomes longer and longer before they pop back in, until finally they just don't," Harry explained, his voice seeming to choke as he explained this.

"You mean it is going to happen again?" Hermione asked, her own voice sounding small in her ears.

Harry just nodded.

"And then it becomes permanent? The disappearing?"

Another nod.

"The weird thing about the accounts," Ron said softly, "is that while sometimes they are transported to another continent or some nonsense like that, but other times there are reports of people having been places that don't exist here. I mean here, as on earth. They go other places, sometimes with, sometimes without magic. We figured that was why we couldn't find you. You weren't here, were you?"

"I wasn't," Hermione agreed, her hands tightening around her teacup. "I don't know where I was," she admitted her own voice choking up as well. "I tried to apparate back, after I got there and I was conscious enough to stand up straight."

"What happened," Ginny asked her voice soft.

"It was like running into a ward, but different, stronger. It made me so ill, I was sick," Hermione admitted. Ginny was squeezing her hand again, and Hermione gave her a watery smile. "I tried point-me's too, but my wand would just spin in lazy circles."

"Well, at least you know why," Ron said with a sigh. "Anyways. As far as we can tell there is no way to predict when it happens. From what we have gathered it is different for everyone."

A splattering hiss interrupted them. "That will be the stew," Ginny said, letting go of Hermione's hand and going to check the stove.

"It isn't going to just, you know, happen tomorrow is it?" Hermione asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

"No, of course not," Ron said, although by the look on his face, Hermione could tell that he was not even sure himself.

"We are going to figure this out, Hermione." Harry said his voice resolute. "We even have people in the department of mysteries looking into the spell."

Hermione could only nod, dread filling the pit of her stomach.

Note: So, I feel like this chapter might be the one that either makes or breaks the story for some people. It was exciting to write as this was always the original intention for the story. Hopefully you like it. If you don't, I hope you will at least give it a chance to prove itself!

There are so many crossovers where someone goes somewhere, but they never seem to go back! I don't want Hermione to be so instantly separated to start out with! We will gently ease her into middle-earth and there will be more heartache and then hopefully more fluttering hearts to follow.

I also want to let you know that there is only one more chapter here (at least that is the way it is planned), before Hermione goes back to our lovely Thorin.

QUESTION TO THE READERS: I really like stories like Indelible by leaper182, Made and Remade the Necklace of Songs by littleblackdog and Of Heart and Soul by Koneko713 (All can be found on AO3). I am thinking of incorporating very lightly a similar theme of soulmates into this story, depending on what you, the reader would like. Let me know!

Thank you to everyone that has been following this so far. I am so glad that everyone likes it!