A/N: Reviewed January 2023! Please read and review :)
-oOo-
As fast as possible, Hermione ran into a dark alcove and ripped open the letter, reading as quickly as she could. She couldn't afford to stay too long in case they found her, but she couldn't leave before knowing what it said. The first thing she noticed was that she recognized the writer immediately; Dumbledore.
Hermione,
You are the only one I know mind, body, and soul will survive until the very end. Whether that end is bright or dark, you will be standing. Thus, I knew if the worst came to happen, you would be the one who could save us all. And when I say all, I mean all of us. The first war was lost to us before we even knew it had started. Peter's betrayal was far deeper and more sinister than we could ever have imagined.
In my office is a secret room, go to it, the password is Phoenix. You will enter it and find the Mirror of Erised. If your heart is truly in the right place, which I know it always has been, you will see everyone you could save. Touch the mirror and it will transport you to my office in 1977. My past self will know what it means when you enter my office from that room and I will trust you explicitly. Tell me everything you know. Absolutely everything, do not keep anything back.
There are newspaper clippings in the room for you to take, informing you of deaths you could potentially prevent. Do not feel burdened or responsible if you do not save everyone, there will inevitably still be many deaths. Destiny will dictate if death must happen to help the flow of time. The tragedies you are preventing were unnecessary and linked to the betrayal of the Marauder traitor.
On my orders, Remus has told you nothing was as it was supposed to be, you will learn the truth of that on your arrival. Your first task after explaining everything to me is to join the Marauders for their last year at Hogwarts. There will be differences in the history you have been told, and you will notice them immediately. Do not be alarmed or feel that you need to change certain relationships. You will understand more when you arrive.
This task you are taking on is an important and courageous one, so I must thank you, Hermione, from beyond my grave, for everything you have done. Standing by Harry all these years and never backing down, no matter what blood purists have told you. You belong in the Wizarding world, I am so confident in this, it is another reason why I chose you.
I look forward to seeing you once again, albeit it may be my first time.
Go now, and good luck.
Albus Percival Wulferic Brian Dumbledore
Hermione's heart had stopped somewhere in her throat.
Time travel. Nothing happened as it was supposed to. She was to be sent back and change everything. That was what Remus meant when he said meddle.
Meddle with time.
The decision was an easy one, she had no choice. She had to go back in time. The world would be a horrifying place if she didn't.
Death Eaters would kill everyone opposed to them and that meant every single muggle. She had to somehow get to Dumbledore's office without being caught, with a maniac and a werewolf hunting her. She was thankful she had stayed in the castle to read the letter.
She bit her lip and looked toward the Great Hall doors, if she left through those doors and made her way up to the headmaster's office, she would be caught within minutes. How could she possibly get out of the Great Hall and hide away until she could sneak into his office? Suddenly, she heard stone scraping against stone, terrified that another wall, like the one that got Fred, was about to fall on her. She peaked out from the alcove to look towards the space the teacher's table used to sit, now littered with bodies of students, Order members, and Death Eaters. Behind where Dumbledore used to sit, a space had opened to reveal a doorway into a tunnel.
Having nowhere else to go, she ran for the newly created dark, unknown passageway. Without looking back, she ran into the darkness and kept her wand by her side, she wanted to light her wand to see however held back in case it attracted her hunters. Her arm pulsed thinking about what Bellatrix would do to her before Fenrir had a chance at her.
Up ahead she spotted a light and immediately quickened her pace. She poked her head out when she reached the end and noticed that she was now on the 7th floor, beside the headmaster's office. Hogwarts had created a path just for her.
'Hogwarts you beautiful, wonderful castle! You continue to surprise me,' Hermione thought to herself.
Stealthily she moved over to the griffin that protected Dumbledore's office. It wasn't until she was standing in front of the griffin that she realized she didn't know the password. As she considered her predicament and thought about how she would get in, the griffin jumped aside, she assumed it sensed her standing there in distress, or it had been waiting for her.
Hogwarts was once again saving her ass.
Unfortunately, before the door closed completely, she heard footsteps and the colour drained from her face as she knew her hunters had witnessed the door close behind her. They knew where she was, it wouldn't take them long to blast through the office.
Faster than she thought possible, considering her exhaustion from 12 hours of battle following the excursion to Gringotts, she ran in and called out the password, "Phoenix."
The bookshelf holding the Sorting Hat clicked open, revealing the hidden room. She ran towards it, pulled it open, and ran inside, pulling the door behind her. She held the handle and pressed her ear against the door as she breathed heavily. The door had closed just in time, she heard the headmaster's door blast off the hinges moments after she entered the room.
"She came in here! I saw it!" Bellatrix screeched.
"I smell her. She's in here, I know it. There's nowhere for her to hide, I can sit here all day. Now that your Dark Lord is dead, I can do as I please," Fenrir growled, sniffing the air.
"How dare you! The Dark Lord will return, he has done so before and, in his stead, I will rain fire down on all who opposed him and our ranks. I will take his place until he returns to us, and he will see my loyalty, unlike you, dog," she spat, "I will start with the Mudblood, I'll have some fun with her and then of course, she will be paraded as the last of the Golden Trio. You can do with her what you will, for all to see," she maniacally laughed imagining the fun she would have.
It was disgusting.
With all the Gryffindor courage she had left, Hermione turned from the monsters in the office and faced the room she entered. In front of her stood the Mirror of Erised. She had never seen it before, Harry had described it after she returned from the holidays in their first year, and he had been the only one in the chamber with Quirrell. It was beautiful; the gold frame was ornate, and the scroll and flourish designs were intricate and reminded her of the old frames and mirrors she saw in France palaces when she visited. There was an inscription at the top that Harry never mentioned, it read, 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi'.
"I show not your face but your heart's desire," Hermione whispered.
She walked over to it and looked at the reflection, and her breath caught in her throat. She wanted to break down and sob; in front of her stood everyone she had lost.
Behind her left shoulder, she saw all the red hair of the Weasley's. At the front was Ron, with his freckles, blue eyes, and big, goofy grin. Beside him was Ginny with her big brown eyes glistening with happiness that she hadn't seen from her in years. Her breath caught when she saw the twins, Fred standing tall, laughing as if he had just given the Ton-Tongue Toffee to Dudley Dursley, or changed Percy's badge to read Pinhead. George stood beside him, feeling whole with his twin by his side and both ears. Bill was without his scars from Fenrir holding Fleur in his arms. Charlie still had all his scars from the dragons, but his eyes were happy. They weren't showing the fear and pain he had displayed earlier from watching his brothers, sister, and parents fight for their lives. Percy stood there holding Molly, as if their big fight never even happened, hugging his mother with everything he had while his father, Arthur, had his hand on Percy's shoulder.
On her right, was Harry, but he didn't look like her Harry for some reason. Everything about him was the same except his eyes instead of his bright green eyes, they were brown. Not only were they a different colour they were also missing the pain she had seen in them over the last seven years. Not only were his eyes exuding a happiness she had never seen before, but he also had the biggest grin on his face as he laughed wholeheartedly, something Hermione was sure she had never witnessed. Yes, Harry had laughed, but this, this was absolute joy at everything this boy could have, and that's when she saw why. Her attention caught a hand placed on Harry's shoulder, a hand that led to a man that was Harry but not Harry. He was taller and had a more muscular and broader build, not overly so, yet more than Harry's seeker build. He had messy black hair, and glasses, a carbon copy of Harry, meaning it could only be one person.
James Potter.
Hermione could see why Snape described him as arrogant. He held himself in a way that exuded confidence. She looked into his eyes and wished she hadn't; his hazel eyes were entrancing. They held mischief and happiness that could only be found in a man that loved everyone and everything around himself. She could sense he wore his heart on his sleeve and held nothing back, he surrounded himself with people he loved, and you could tell he didn't need the wealth or name that came with Potter, as long as James had his brothers by his side, he could defeat anyone.
His eyes held a such depth that the emotion was right there for all to see. Harry may have had Lily's eye colour, though the expressions that came from them were all James. Harry had so much of his father; not the confidence but the need for family and nothing else.
Something Ron had never understood. Ron desired money and fame but Harry?
No, Harry just wanted to be loved.
Everyone believed it was because he grew up without it in the Dursley home, but now Hermione could see that that wasn't the only reason, no, it was a trait from James Potter himself.
The attractive man was hard to look away from, but her eyes were drawn to the person at Harry's other shoulder, a red-headed, beautiful woman.
Lily Evans.
Lily was more stunning than Hermione thought possible, she had light-toned skin and the faintest sprinkle of freckles over her nose. She wore a smile to the smile she saw on Harry, pure-hearted kindness for everyone, giving them a chance or forgiveness no matter how much pain they went through. Lily had Harry's heart, or rather, Harry had Lily's heart.
Standing beside Lily, hands almost touching, was a younger face that had her staring. Remus Lupin stood there smiling, the man she had just spoken to before the battle and sobbed over not ten minutes ago. It was Remus, but not a Remus Hermione had ever seen. No pain or shame was showing from his self-hatred, it was as if he fully accepted his lycanthropy because his family accepted his wolf. This was the Remus she had dreamed of always seeing, the fact he hated himself and pushed away Tonks for so long because he felt he didn't deserve love tore Hermione apart. No soul should ever hate themselves so much they cannot accept love, not when they are as kindhearted as Remus J. Lupin.
Next to Remus was Sirius Black, who she almost passed over to continue looking through the faces, however, she had to double back. Sirius was almost unrecognizable, the haunted look in his eyes was gone, replaced with the same mischief and happiness James Potter displayed, shining from his molten silver orbs. He was wearing his leather jacket he spoke of fondly from his younger days and dark jeans. Sirius was the epitome of a bad boy muggle. Every woman would fall at his feet with those silver eyes and handsome smirk.
Between Sirius and James, she was surprised the female population of Hogwarts got any work done, even Hermione would admit she may have cut back on studying if they were around. Shaking her head at her silly thoughts, she kept staring at the mirror, so many faces stared back at her.
Luna, Lavender, McGonagall, Dumbledore, even Snape.
There were also faces she didn't recognize. A curly blonde beside Sirius, a man and a woman she could only guess were Neville's parents, a man who looked similar to Sirius but smaller and gave off a Draco Malfoy aura, and so many more. All of them were standing there behind her in the mirror when she knew for a fact, they were all dead, some for years, and some presently throughout Hogwarts, their bodies barely cold.
"I can smell her right behind here!" Fenrir growled suddenly, bringing her out of her trance. His voice was right behind the bookcase she was hidden behind, he must have tracked her scent to the hidden door. Thinking quickly, she looked beside the mirror and spotted the papers that Dumbledore spoke of and shoved them into her purple beaded bag. It was now or never, she had to trust this mirror portal idea Dumbledore had would save her from the future Bellatrix and Greyback had planned for her.
Her heart racing, her palms sweating, Hermione took a deep breath, leaned forward, raised her hand, and touched the mirror. She squeezed her eyes shut and wished that Dumbledore's plan would take her from this place, hoping her heart was pure enough to save her.
As soon as the tips of her fingers touched the cool surface of the mirror, she felt a familiar pull. It pulled her from the nightmare of the office, she would never know if Greyback or Bellatrix blasted the door open. She would never know they screamed and blasted the mirror when she disappeared.
It was like the feeling of a portkey mixed with the sensation of Apparition. It was an odd sensation that began to feel too much, she felt like it would never end. Just before she felt like she wanted to throw up, her feet landed on the floor and the discomfort ended.
Hermione gauged her surroundings, verified that she had all her body parts and hadn't splinched herself, and turned to the door before pushing it open.
Sitting at his desk sat a much younger Albus Dumbledore, a look of shock crossing his face as he spotted the young girl stepping out of a particular door.
"Hello, Professor Dumbledore, my name is Hermione Granger."
-oOo-
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this edit, please read and review!