Author's note. Should Harry try to save Quirrel? Remember, he and the gang are trying to stay undercover as it were, so they can't just randomly accuse people left right and centre. Anything they do has to fit their eleven year old forms so no magic that's way beyond their years. Just would like some input on how far Harry should take his 'saving people' thing, considering he's got the chance to save a lot of people.

By the way, 'The Secret Island' by Enid Blyton happens to be one of my childhood favourites and I would recommend it.

Enjoy and please review.

When Hermione opened her eyes, she knew something was different. Maybe it was because her body no longer ached and she felt warm and secure. Or perhaps it was because there were no longer screams of terror or cries of pain. She sat up slowly, staring around the neat room which was filled with loads of books on all the shelves and cases. The walls were painted a gentle light blue colour and by her window was a desk and chair.

A couple of china dolls lined the top of a chest of drawers along with some family photos. Her window was slightly open letting in a cool breeze and the sky still looked dark but more of a blue navy than black colour. She slowly woke her, for once, her mind was a total blank and she had nothing to say. The situation was just so...bizarre that Hermione just couldn't react.

She glanced to her bedside cabinet and saw the little glass ball that Professor McGonagall had left after her visit to inform Hermione's parents that their daughter was a witch. She reached forward and touched it, murmuring a word which made the ball suddenly rise up into the air, glowing. As she watched, it shifted shape, turning into a glass bird which began to flap around the room. It was Professor's McGonagall's proof that magic was real and not some elaborate hoax. The orb was so that Hermione could assure herself of magic's existence until she went to Hogwarts. Apparently, even after being shown proof, some Muggleborns and their families still had an extremely hard time believing it.

Hermione remembered activating it every night before she went to sleep, just to prove that she really was a witch and that was perfectly normal. She'd almost forgotten about it, she always left it behind when she went to school so that her parents could always have proof their daughter wasn't going off to some brainwashing cult school. That she truly was going to learn magic because she was a witch and needed to learn how to control her magic.

She licked her lips and was mildly shocked to find she had her old buck teeth again, the ones that had gotten her so dreadfully teased in Primary School. She glanced at a little box which contained her braces, thankfully, not train track ones. She'd never enjoyed wearing them but they did keep her teeth in good condition. It had been a real relief to have her buck teeth shrunk down, especially as Ron seemed to have noticed her more.

Maybe she could get them shrunk down again...put if off to a bad hex or something...

"Oh...heh," she chuckled; sometimes it was strange to be so...rebellious.

She had been very much a teacher's pet in Primary School but since going to Hogwarts, she had definitely relaxed about rules. It wasn't that she didn't still care about them she did, but she could now understand which rules were good and which weren't. She also knew when you needed to break them and when to keep them.

She slowly pushed the covers back and got out of bed, noting sadly that Crookshanks didn't appear to rub against her bare legs. Although she was due to go to Diagon Alley in a couple of days, meaning she could easily buy her beautiful cat two years earlier. Her eyes widened as she realised just how calmly she was taking the fact she was eleven years old again, having been plucked from the Battle of Hogwarts, seven years in the future.

Hermione thought about the problem for a moment, why wasn't she going out of her mind with worry and panic? She was sure it hadn't been a dream, you couldn't dream seven years but something like this was meant to be impossible. But time travel its self wasn't impossible, she'd done it for a whole year. You just weren't supposed to be able to go back more than a day or so. Magic was clearly at work, mixed with time travel had sent her back, not in her adult body but back to her eleven, soon to turn twelve, body.

Now, if this was possible, surely it wouldn't be impossible for this same magic to work a sort of calming effect. At least she was safe here and if she actually was back in time, then everyone else should be safe and okay. All those who'd died, they were still alive and happy...well no, Dobby wouldn't be very happy. But he was destined to be freed and who knows...maybe they could get him freed earlier.

She was walking straight to where her calendar was, to check the date. It was the thirty first of July, as it was past Midnight. That meant Harry had just been collected by Hagrid, he'd told her and Ron all about how he'd discovered magic on his birthday. When morning came, he'd go to Diagon Alley and collect all his Hogwarts things. Ron would be back at the Burrow, safe with all his family, including...Fred.

Hermione bit back as soft whimper as she remembered the cold, still body of Fred Weasley. He had always taken great delight in teasing her and as annoying as he and George had been, she had been sure nothing would ever strike him down. And yet that was just what had happened, he'd been struck down in the prime of his life. And now, he was alive again and probably utterly unaware of the fact he'd died.

Because it somehow made sense that the entire world hadn't gone back in time but who had? There was no sound from her parents' room so they didn't seem to have been sent back in time. Of course, she'd need to check in the morning but somehow she didn't think so. But if anyone else had gone back like she had, then she was sure it would be Harry and Ron.

Sadly, she couldn't find out now but once Harry had Hedwig, he would surely send her with a letter. So, for maybe a day or two, she'd need to wait, no point in panicking until then.

"Curiouser and curiouser," she murmured, there were no other words to describe what was happening. Although it did briefly occur to her that 'curiouser' the famous Alice quote wasn't actually a real word, she didn't care.

She dearly hoped that Harry and Ron had gone back in time otherwise; she wasn't sure what she'd do. She couldn't bear to repeat all seven years without Harry and Ron knowing exactly what had happened. Frankly, dealing with immature boys had been difficult the first time without adding to the fact that she was an eighteen year old girl in an eleven year old's body. She and Ron had only just kissed, how could she go through another seven years waiting for him to figure it out again?

"No," she murmured to herself as she started pacing. "He has to remember, he has to."

Although, since they were in eleven year old bodies, it might make things a little awkward but at least they could talk about their feelings for each other now. And, maybe give another few years, start to kiss and hold hands...and a few years after that...take things further...

She swallowed; it really felt weird to be thinking about things like that in her current state. But after all, it wasn't impossible for people her age to do stuff like that, just not a really good idea. She had seen articles on kids getting married as soon as they reached puberty and in the early part of this century, Italy raised the legal age of girls getting married...to twelve!

Of course, she was thinking in very academic terms, she certainly wasn't thinking of doing anything with Ron until they were both ready. At least until they were five years older...

"Oh, snap out of it," she told herself sternly, now was hardly the time to be thinking about stuff like that.

She glanced back at her bed and sighed, she really didn't feel like sleeping now. The best thing to do would be to read and see if that made her sleepy enough to go back to bed properly. Switching on her bedside lamp, she went over to a shelf and started examining the different titles. Sadly, she didn't have any texts on magic but that would be remedied soon enough.

There were certainly plenty she hadn't read in years, she'd pick a few she know she liked and go back to bed with them. Her tastes had changed a lot over the years but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy a few childhood favourites. Let's see...she'd always liked Enid Blyton as a young girl and now she'd gone on her own adventures with some friends. A lot of them a hundred times the danger those fictional children had had to face but she could still relate to them a bit.

"Hmm, what about this one?" she said softly to herself, picking out 'The secret island'.

It was about four children who decided to run away from home because of unkind relatives and go live on an island, somehow successfully supporting themselves. Hermione was reminded of the past year, when she'd been camping with her friends and on the run. All the children had to worry about was being sent back to their cruel relatives or possibly a care home, they'd had to worry about being killed. But still, she'd enjoyed it when she was young and in the safety of her own bed, she could enjoy it again.

"Now let's see," she said as she settled herself in bed and opened the dog eared book.

"Mike, Peggy and Nora were sitting in the fields, talking together. They were very unhappy...,"

Harry's POV

This time when Harry woke, he was perfectly calm and feeling quite happy. Unlike last time, seven or so years ago, when he'd thought it was just a dream, he knew this was reality. Rolling slightly in the massive coat turned sleeping bag, he saw that Hagrid appeared to still be sleeping. He sighed and rolled onto his front.

Today was the day he first visited Diagon Alley, the day he first got his owl Hedwig, met a wizard his own age and...the first teacher which would try to hurt him. Harry frowned, trying to remember all the details of that doomed Professor. The first time they'd met, they'd shaken hands but Quirrel hadn't been burned. The last time they met, Quirrel tried to strangle him but thanks to his mum's protection, Quirrel had been burned.

From what Quirrel had said, Voldemort hadn't inhabited the back of his head back then, so he must have been some sort of spirit. It was only when Quirrel failed to get the Stone, that Voldemort had gone a step further in controlling his servant. This meant Quirrel hadn't been totally under Voldemort's control and had yet to commit any crimes.

Was it possible to save Quirrel? Did he deserve to be saved; he had knowingly let a troll in, one which could have killed. He'd also coldly tried to kill Harry several times and by the end of the year, had been a monster. But how much of that was due to Voldemort's influence? From the little Dumbledore had said about him, he'd sounded a bit like Percy, someone who loved studying and was more suited to a passive profession than fighting the Dark Arts.

Trouble was, when Harry met him, he wouldn't have a wand and Quirrel definitely would not have Voldemort on him. What was he meant to do, accuse the man in front of the whole pub? That would go down well...

No, fact was, he couldn't do anything today and by the time he got to Hogwarts, Quirrel would be sharing his soul with Voldemort. But even when he got his wand, what precisely could he do to Quirrel? He didn't know any spells to extract bits of soul from another person and frankly, the only thing he could think of was to actually kill Quirrel.

Something he did not want to do. Because apart from anything else, Voldemort would still be out there and would probably latch on to someone else, thus solving nothing. At least with Quirrel, Harry and his friends would know where Voldemort was and could work out a plan. This actually made him think of Ron and Scabbers, he really hoped Ron could keep his head with the rat.

People might start asking questions about just how Ron knew he had an Animagus in his possession. One thing he knew for sure, he and his friends had to treat this path carefully, if too much was changed, things could spiral out of their control and more people could end up killed. He wanted Sirius freed a lot earlier than he had been but they needed to 'discover' Wormtail in a realistic fashion.

"Wish Hermione was here," Harry mumbled, he needed her knowledge and careful planning. As for Ron, his talent was spotting flaws in plans and working out strategy, he really needed both of his friends with him.

"Wonder when that owl's getting here?" Harry suddenly mused to himself with a slight smile.

It was still funny to think that owls delivered mail and newspapers instead of having a postal service that involved people. The owls were very effective but Harry knew that Muggle post worked fine as well. This reminded him of how ignorant wizards were about Muggles and how Hermione had promised that she would drag Ron out into the Muggle world for a whole week to show him how things worked.

Ron had been horrified at the very idea but Harry knew there were plenty of things in the Muggle world Ron would love. The cinema for example, Ron would surely love that. And fairgrounds, if Ron didn't like them, Harry would eat his hat. Then there was all the greasy junk food that Dudley enjoyed indulging in, Ron would definitely adore that.

Harry himself wouldn't mind trying them properly; he'd only gotten a taste here and there. He doubted Hermione would enjoy him but he and Ron certainly would. They could stuff themselves and talk about Quidditch, a perfect combination. This really made the eleven going on eighteen year old smile; he would enjoy being just a normal kid with his friends and not worrying about someone trying to kill him.

Of course, they would need to deal with Voldemort but considering he had managed to destroy all his horcruxes and the man himself, Harry felt their chances were good. They had to change things but be careful not to change them too much or all their knowledge would be useless. Harry ruefully wondered if this was what it felt like to be Dumbledore, trying to carefully guide everything in order to defeat Voldemort. They would need Dumbledore as an ally, he was the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, they couldn't do everything on their own but Harry was wary about letting Dumbledore know their secret.

He knew all Dumbledore wanted was to keep them all safe, unite the wizarding world and defeat Voldemort and his followers. But as Dumbledore himself admitted, he was capable of making mistakes, and some of these mistakes had been massive ones. He probably needed to discuss this with Ron and Hermione but at the moment, he felt they shouldn't let Dumbledore know what had happened. Maybe in a few years but not right now.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

"There it is," Harry thought with a smile as the expected tapping began. "Hagrid?"

Author's note. In the next chapter, Harry tackles Diagon Alley, what surprises await him? Find out next time, until then.