Hermione was up with the dawn. Dappled sunlight filtered through the thin curtains and danced over her face. Slowly, she opened her eyes and rolled onto her back, stretching as she went. The light outside promised to bloom into a beautiful spring day and although she wanted to lounge about in the huge four poster in which she had slept, she knew she should rise, wash and see to what was on her writing table. Still, it was harder than it looked and took her another ten minutes before she moved at all.

As soon as she had made her morning ablutions and set about dressing as best she could. Corsets were awkward at the best of times and doing so alone without having much of a clue how they worked. So it was that she sat at the desk without the thing fastened to tightly. The large bloomers that formed part of her underwear were surprisingly comfortable. They were made of a high quality cotton and were soft against her skin. The little stool on which she sat was deceptively comfortable and so she turned her attention to the letters on the desk.

The ones that were on the top were simple letters of thanks and congratulations on her engagement. Nothing that gave all that much away really and therefore not much help to her. Hermione felt that there would be others, ones with more details at least. Ones that had more than mere pleasantries in them

By the time she reached the clean paper underneath the letters, she was annoyed. There had been nothing of any use on the desk. The drivel she had read was mind numbing but she supposed that was the nature of the time period she was in. At least she knew that now. The year was 1864 and it was March. That particular information she could digest at her leisure. Opening a drawer, she saw there was a stack of letters there as well. She pulled them out and tried to find something that might give her a clue as to what had gone on.

There was a short letter from Viktor confirming his feelings for her. It seemed a little halting in nature and love letters were clearly not his forte. Hermione put it into a separate pile, one that she would keep for further investigation. A couple of rambling replies from friends who had been away, including Romilda and Luna, followed and these she added to the 'useless' pile. There was a touching letter from Ron, who had acknowledged he had done something wrong in response to her rejection of his intention to court her. She had apparently accepted the apology and this was a letter of thanks for her kindness. Touching as it was, she placed it in the useless pile – it didn't tell her all that much after all. Ron's crush on her back at school was well known and she wasn't surprised to learn of it transferring to this world too.

The letter underneath was from Severus. She instantly recognised the sharp writing, except this time it was not negative comments all over an essay about potions. This was a short, somewhat terse letter that was meant to congratulate her on her engagement. She read it twice, perfectly able to read the subtext to the letter, rather than what the words said directly. Essencially, it was saying that she was marrying a clod and that, should she wish to do so, she could marry anyone she wished. Someone who was more on her level, more able to challenge her and take care of her needs; it left her with more questions than it answered. Such as if he felt this way, why was he engaged to Fleur? Why did he not do something about it? She wondered if it actually was a declaration of his feelings or whether concern for someone who was a friend.

She placed it in the pile with the useful letters and continued to look through. After finding several more rubbish, she discovered a newspaper article. It was folded neatly in half and had a plethora of notes scribbled around the edge. The headline was all she needed to see. 'Wizarding World Wedlock'. It seemed that there had been a steady decline in the population and the ministry had decided to do something about it. It had decreed that all witches and wizards between the ages of seventeen and fifty were to find and marry suitable partners and begin solving the problem.

Hermione shuddered. Such a decree could never be passed where she was from. The population would never allow it. Her eyes were drawn to the time turner once more and she picked up the fragments. She looked at it carefully, wondering if there was any way it could be repaired. Even if she could place it back together, it would be missing the key magical components. When she looked at it closely, she could see the small spark it had once contained was gone. Placing it back onto the desk, she let out a sigh. Her stomach chose that point to begin making its empty state known.

She was about to rise, when there was a tap on her door. Calling for whoever it was to enter, it opened and in the doorway, stood one of the smallest house elves she had ever seen. "Can Biddy help mistress dress?" she asked. Her voice was soft and Hermione gave her a smile.

"Of course, thank you," she said. The little thing flushed at her gratitude and hopped into the room. Her steps were so light that Hermione hardly knew that she was there. It didn't take long for her to fasten her stays and make sure that she was comfortable. She was then helped into a light green day dress. When she was decent, Biddy began working on her hair, which had become a tangled mass of insanity overnight.

"Has mistress been reading her old letters?" she asked as she began separating the strands. Hermione nodded absently.

"Yes." She kept her tone neutral, not wanting to give anything away to the little elf.

"Is mistress unhappy with something?"

Hermione let out a sigh and Biddy paused in her work. She leaned forward and picked up the pieces of the time turner. Handing it to the creature she gave a wry smile, "Do you know what this is?" she asked.

Biddy examined the object before shaking her head, "No mistress," she replied. The metal was handed back to her and she resumed tidying her hair.

"Never mind then," Hermione said placing it away once more. It might come in handy in the future but it was becoming clear to her that she was stuck in this world for the time being. They lapsed into silence while her hair was finished and Hermione tried to prepare herself for the events of the day. Perhaps, if she stuck close to Ginny, she might learn a bit more of who everyone was. There had been plenty of people at the ball last night that she did not know and she felt as though she should. The moment Biddy was done, Hermione rose.

"I'm absolutely starving!" she said with a laugh. Biddy nodded.

"Breakfast will be ready soon but I know there is tea in the kitchen now," she said.

"Tea would be delightful!" Hermione said. The elf gave her a little smile before she snapped her fingers and disappeared.

Finding the kitchen was easy, all she had to do as follow the smell of toast. As soon as she had a cup of tea in her hands, she felt better. The toast smelled like the best thing she would ever eat but there was no way she was going to do so without the others there. She got the idea that it would be considered rude. Part of her felt a little smug about percervering with all the classic novels she had read when she was younger. The ones that Harry and Ron had always laughed at her for were certainly coming in useful now!

She did manage to find the parlour however and so settled into one of the chairs. There was a book at the side of it, one she had been reading it would appear. Picking it up, she began leafing through it idly while sipping her tea. It wasn't long before she was joined by Ginny. "Morning," she said looking up.

"Hello," she replied. Ginny sank into one of the other chairs; she looked tired still and Hermione tilted her head.

"Are you well?"

"Just tired, how do you manage to do that every night of the week?" she asked. It was obvious that she was referring to the ball the night before. Hermione smiled at her and gave a little shrug.

"I have no real idea," she replied, "Who did you speak with? Lavender and I got caught up chatting to Remus that I hardly saw you all night."

"There are so many people," she said, "Though I did spend a lot of time dancing with Harry, I was also introduced to Master Snape's half-brother, Sebastian. Although all he spoke about was the nuisance that was his little sister Mystra." Hermione filed this information away for later use, "Then there was Draco." She said rolling her eyes.

"Oh?"

"He's such an imbecile. Walks around the place as though he is entitled to everything. Strutting with those two friends of his as though he owns the place!" she snorted. Hermione couldn't keep back a giggle. It was the very image of how he was back in her time and it was good to see some things didn't change. It also made her wonder about his father. Was Lucius and Narcissa still causing trouble or had something happened to them.

"I can't say as I have noticed that but I will have a look when he's next around." Hermione giggled.

"He should be at the picnic this afternoon." Ginny said.

"Picnic?" Hermione asked. Ginny gave her a look as though she had just said something ridiculous and shook her head.

"And you asked me if I was alright! The picnic at Grange Park. It's been planned for months now, looks as though we have good weather for it too." Ginny added.

"Of course!" Hermione said, faking a look of comprehension, "I remember now."

"Everyone is going to be there, including Viktor," she added with a little smirk. Hermione felt as though she had been punched in the gut when his name was mentioned. Although the Quidditch star, if he still was a star, was handsome enough, there was just no spark at the thought of him. She remembered his halting, sloppy kisses when they went to the Yule Ball together and the thought of being married to him made her shiver. Not in the good way either.

She nodded to her friend though and took a sip of tea to hide her reaction. Fortunately, Lavender chose that moment to appear and her flushed face and wide smile dispersed the growing fear in Hermione's stomach. "Come on! Let's eat I'm starving!" she said. Her capering for food reminded her of Ron and she wondered whether they had talked about getting together. They certainly had a decent appetite in common.

Breakfast was a cheerful affair that saw all three of the girls satisfied. They spoke of small matters; things that were no deeper than the latest dress fashion and how girls should wear their hair. Although Hermione listened to their chatter, she found it rather difficult to join in, not knowing what they were. Apparently this was completely normal though; this she found out when Lavender began chuckling at the usual bewildered look that spread across her face.

When the mail arrived, there was a letter from Severus addressed to Hermione. She looked over the envelope while the other two poked fun at her. She had received a letter from her crush and apparently this was a matter of great mirth. She ran a finger over the ink but did not open it, she dare not in front of the other two, lest it give them more ammunition for amusement. What it contained was a complete mystery and she was more than a little curious as to the contents.