"You know what to do then." Professor McGonagall said, holding Hermione's hand over the time turner. "You're our last hope Hermione. Please." And with that Hermione took the time turner, focused on 1944, and turned the orb.

She felt nauseous. It usually felt a little odd using the time turner but this time, considering the amount of time she was skipping through, the dizzying feeling was worse than usual. She clutched the time turner in her hand, making sure that it was safe. She didn't know what would happen if the time turner broke while she was in transition but she didn't want to find out, not now.

Hermione hurled as the pain became unbearable. It was like being punched in the stomach again and again and again. The pain shot up to her head and now she was sitting on the ground crouched in a fetal position. Tears from the pain of the progression started to make their way down her face. Please make it stop, she beseeched through gritted teeth. This was unbearable and somewhat comparable to the Cruciatus Curse.

After what it seemed like an eternity of pain, everything stopped. Her eyes were still closed and Hermione kept hugging her legs to her, not wanting to let go of herself or the time turner. She didn't know which was more fragile, the little tiny object that she clung on to with her dear life or herself. She wanted to stay in that position and keep crying; the pain had reminded her of the death of her best friends and everyone she loved. But knew she couldn't. She couldn't break just yet. It wasn't over. Not yet.

She willed herself to unfold herself. Shaking, she started to slowly rise up. She looked around her. She was standing at precisely the same location that had activated the time turner in. Except, this time McGonagall wasn't standing in front of her. Hermione shuddered at the thought of her Professor, not sure what fate had awaited her when Hermione left.

The forest west eerily dark, the only light came from the half crescent moon glaring above her. There was the occasional chirping of birds and the sounds of crickets. She could hear a howl in the distance and she knew she couldn't stay where she was at, even with an invisibility charm placed on her.

She had to keep moving. She had to return. She needed to start her plan. It was simple: Kill Tom Marvolo Riddle and return to her time.

Hermione looked at the time turner in hear hand and she knew that she couldn't risk it being broken. If anything happened to it then she would never ever be able to be reunited with her family and friends again. So she took her wand, found a spot by two distinct oak trees and said "Foramen!" A small hole ten inches deep was suddenly dug. She put the time turner in the hole and put the patch of dirt back over the it to cover the spot where she had buried the object.

"Flos!" A daisy started sprouting at the exact same spot that the time turner had been buried. She couldn't just bury the time turner and not have a way back to finding it.

She took out her spelled map that she had in her small bag and noticed that she was a few miles away from the border of a small town called Hillings. She started walking and strategizing. She needed to know what date exactly it was so can know what her schedule was. She needed to prepare.

Just when the sun started emerging from behind the skies, Hermione could see the town flickering before her eyes. She was close to the border and she could make outlines of people walking around. She looked down at her clothes and noticed that she was wearing a floral blouse and jeans. Her clothes were obviously from another era so she reached down into her tiny bag and found herself a cloak. Her cloaks still had Hogwarts crest on them so she ripped out the crest and muttered a fabric mending spell to fix the cloak. She looked somewhat presentable now.

She walked inside the town. It looked like it was old, decadent and somewhat abandoned. There can't be more than 500 people living here, she thought to herself. She looked around and noticed a barn with chickens starting to run around and a pig snorting in a distant corner. There were horses lying around eating grass and a farmer who was transporting crates of hay to stack. Muggles.

"Excuse me, sir?" Hermione asked a a young man of about 30 started who was walking past her. He was holding a newspaper. The man stopped and eyed Hermione curiously, as if to question why she's out and about at such an hour especially being that she's a woman.

"I've been traveling" Hermione answered his unspoken question, "and I haven't read today's news. Would you mind telling me where I can buy a newspaper?" She asked in a friendly tone with small smile, nodding at the newspaper in his hand.

"You can have mine. I've just finished reading it besides there's nothing exciting that effects this town anyways" He said nonchalantly, handing her the newspaper.

"Thank you, that's very generous of you. Would you like me to pay you for it?" She offered. She didn't have muggle money from this time but she hoped the answer would be "no."

"No, that's alright." The man replied.

"Good day to you sir." Hermione nodded.

"You as well, Miss." He replied, walking away.

Looking down at the newspaper, it read June 21, 1944. That meant that she had July and August before school started on September 1st, 1944. Hermione spent the rest of her time between July and August in Hillings and London. When she was in Hillings, she researched the events of that year and read every newspaper she could get her hands on to learn about the muggle world that she was now a part of. Then she went back to London and stayed at the Leaky Cauldron under the name of Hermione King. "Are you related to Rosalind King, by any chance?" the in-keeper, Samuel had asked her upon her arrival that day.

"I don't think so. I've grown up in France" She said, noticing the disappointed look on Samuel's face. She chosen a popular name so she can get lost in the sea of people. She didn't want to be noticed. That day, she visited a muggle who counterfeited legal documents; she know had a birth certificate and a passport. The Ministry of Magic was good at checking documentation to ensure that it was not spelled but they had no way of proving that muggle made documentation was legal or not. Keep things as simple as possible- don't make it too complex, she had instructed herself.

She also found herself a job at Normand Norway's Books and All Things Parchment the first week she spent in Diagon Alley. Working at Normand's gave her a tiny staple of steady income to explain where her money was coming from and a constant supply of books to research and delve into whenever she had an idea or question to ponder. Things in 1944 weren't as different as in 1996; the shops were the the same (Olivanders, Honeydukes, etc.), the food was just as delicious, if not better. The only difference that Hermione observed as she sat at Flowering's Coffee and Cakes on Saturday mornings were the fashions and the events of that century. There was always a feeling of anxiousness and fear that was not foreign to Hermione that crippled people in this time as well. While in her time, Lord Voldemort was the Dark Lord that erupted feelings of terror and chaos, in 1944 it was the whispers of Grindelwald that haunted witches and wizards.

In July, Hermione decided that it was time for her to contact Headmaster Dippet and to get a move on her admission to Hogwarts. Somehow she had to get back into the school- as a student, as a professor, or even as a caretaker of something, she had to find a way back inside. She wrote a Dippet a short and concise letter;

Dear Headmaster Dippet,

I am Hermione King, a 17 year old originally from Britain. However, due to the political conflict that has haunted us for the past decade, I have been home-schooled until my parent's death of this past year. In writing you this letter, I am hoping to find a way, if there is and you are willing, to gain admission into Hogwarts. I would most certainly be willing to take any tests or write any essays necessary to demonstrate my knowledge and skill level.

Awaiting your response,
Hermione King

It has been almost two weeks since she had sent that letter and September 1st, 1944 was egging on closer and closer. She didn't know what to do if Dippet's response was a "No." She supposed she could ask for an apprenticeship but upon forethought, considering her age, she wouldn't be able to do that. She couldn't be a Professor, she didn't look the age for it. And she didn't have any healing abilities- that she knew of, to request to work in the infirmary.

If she couldn't get into Hogwarts for a year then she would have to wait that long until Tom Riddle graduated and kill him that way. Whether it was a year from now or two months, she was going to kill Tom Riddle.

If she didn't know that Tom Marvolo Riddle was going to be the future Dark Lord, she would have felt a ping of guilt and remorse for attempting to kill an innocent teenager and the taking the life of a human being.

But no, she didn't have any reservations, not because she couldn't think of any reasons not to kill the young Lord Voldemort but because the world depended on her. There was nothing else or no one else that could potentially save the future.

Almost halfway through the third week of July, an owl arrived knocking at her Leaky Cauldron window. Hermione stretched from her bed and walked slowly to the window- at that point she had lost all hope. She had forsaken the idea of gaining admission into Hogwarts as a seventh year after two weeks- she had even formulated a plan of attacking Riddle after he got off the Hogwarts Express after graduating but she had to make do with that plan- deciding that a more settle plan would have better results. She opened the window and took the envelope from the dusty brown owl, giving her a gentle caress on her beak. "What have you brought me?" Hermione asked the owl, turning over the envelope she noticed the Hogwarts stamp. She said goodbye to the owl and closed the window. She tore through the envelop and read through the elegant script.

Dear Ms. King,

I am most unfortunate to hear of your parents' passing and hope that you are well in spite of the hard times that we are in. After consulting with the board of governors, we are willing to entertain the idea of allowing you admission into Hogwarts as a seventh year. However, as you have astutely mentioned, you will need to complete a series of tests and, upon successfully passing them, you may be granted permission to enroll in the current year.

Professors Slughorn and Dumbledore will be ready to administer your tests on August 1st at 8am at Hogwarts in the Third Tower Chamber Room. The tests will cover Potions, Transfiguration, Tharms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Herbology and History of Magic. Assuming that you have studied all of these subjects, the tests will contain questions that will test you for knowledge sufficient of a sixth year entering seventh. We would like to know that you have enough knowledge to do well in the seventh year classes therefore the tests will aim to test your knowledge of these subjects as thoroughly as possible. The tests will be completed by August 9th.

Sincerely,
Armando Dippet
Headmaster of Hogwarts

Hermione spent what was remaining of July pouring over books and reading through all the subjects that she was going to be tested on. She knew that she had received Outstanding O.W.L.s but she couldn't help but review the subjects again just in case she had forgotten anything. By the time August first came and she was sitting on a carriage heading from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts, she knew that she could only study so much given the little time she had to prepare.

As the castle came into view, Hermione was reminded of the last time that she had been there. The last battle had been there, the castle was almost broken itself reflecting the war that was taking place inside and outside of it. But the castle now stood, quiet and peaceful. Soon it was going to be her home again. She choked back the tears that were threatening to come out.

The carriage stopped in front of the front entrance of the castle and Hermione made her way inside. She had never been in Hogwarts during the summer break and now she knew what it was like- serene and vacant.

"Miss King," A middle aged woman with long robes and a stern look called, making her way to Hermione. The woman reminded her much of Professor McGonagall with her tight bun and hurried walk.

"Yes, Professor…?" Hermione said, reaching her hand out.

"Nichols" The woman replied, shaking the outstretched hand. "Headmaster Dippet has prepared your tests. Follow me, please," Hermione followed the professor through the sunny corridors and through the maze of hallways and staircases. She knew where the Third Tower Chamber Room was but she had to pretend everything was new to her. Occasionally, she would make a comment about Hogwarts. "I've never been to a real school. Hogwarts is so large. I'm surprised that you don't have a map for it." Hermione would remark.

"Oh, yes, of course we have maps but Headmaster Dippet would much rather greet guests this way. Should you pass the tests and be admitted, you will of course get a map." Professor Nichols replied hastily as they neared the chamber room. "Here you are" she said standing outside the door. "Professors Dumbledore and Slughorn will inform you of all the tests and any information that you might need to guide you. Should you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them. They will each take turns administering your tests. After the end of each of your tests at 5pm, I will come to escort you back to the front of the castle where your carriage will await you. You will have a lavatory break after every test. Lunch will be at noon. You can have it here in the chamber or outside in the gardens- should you wish, let either of the Professors know and they will accompany you there. Any questions?"

"No, I don't have any other questions. Thank you" Hermione said. Professor Nichols nodded, turned around and left her standing there. Hermione drew a long breath for a couple of seconds and opened the door.

This was it. This was the beginning of her plan.