Chapter 7: Wednesday, October 31, 2001

"They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."

-Andy Warhol


Hermione stared down at the items laid out across her bed. A pile of neatly folded clothes that she and Draco had gotten from the vintage shop in Muggle London, two journals- one with her personal history written into it, and one that was empty, the fountain pen Draco had given her, the letter and phial of memories from McGonagall, the sack of Galleons (another gift from Draco), a picture of herself, Harry, and Ron taken in fourth year, and the book of spells and potions created by Antonin Dolohov and Snape.

She wracked her brain, trying to think if there was anything else she would need to take with her. Anything else that would prove of use. She found her fingers fumbling with the amulet around her neck and sighed as she checked the time on her wrist watch. She began placing everything into her knapsack and changed into clothes that were appropriate for her 1979 arrival; a pair of wide legged khaki trousers and a cinnamon coloured turtleneck that felt much too tight to be appropriate. She pulled her hair to the side in a plait and fastened the end in a small elastic and looked in the mirror.

"You look ridiculous," Draco's voice came from the doorway.

"You picked this outfit out," she reminded him. "And I feel ridiculous. Honestly, who wears jumpers this tight?"

"It was the seventies. Clothes were either ridiculously tight, or ill fitting. There wasn't much of an in between."

"Well I can tell you, without a doubt, that polyester trousers are uncomfortable."

Draco laughed and crossed the room, "Are you ready to go?"

"No," she breathed, chewing on her lip. "I don't know if I'll ever be ready for this."

"Some Gryffindor you are."

She rolled her eyes, "Call me cowardly all you want, I have no idea what to expect when I get there. This could be a massive waste of time."

"Just say the word, Granger, and we'll call it off. It's not like they'll be expecting you," Draco said.

"No, I can't call it off. There's too much at stake." She sighed, "But I have one last favor to ask of you."

Draco arched an eyebrow at her, "Oh? And what's that?"

"I want you to alter my memories."

He stared at her for a long minute, his jaw tight as his eyes scanned her face. "You want me to what?"

"Alter my memories. I can't go there with all the information I have about the present."

"And why's that?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Draco, I'm going to the past to visit Harry's parents. His Godfather. Remus…" she trailed off, sitting back down on her bed and looking up at him, her hands twisting in her lap. "I know too much. If I go and I let something slip or- or I try to change something…"

"You wouldn't do that."

"Wouldn't I?" She asked, huffing a breath and shrugging a shoulder, "To stop people from dying that I cared about? To bring Harry his parents back? You don't think I would try to do something to help them?"

"That would be a monumental fuck up, Granger." Draco said, "And you know it. Erasing your memory-

"Not erase per se… Just… I know how skilled you are with Legilimency and Occlumency… I thought, well, I thought you could just go in and- and bury it."

"Bury what, exactly?" he asked.

"Everything? What I know about them, what I know about their futures. Draco, I can't go back there and not do something to save Lily and James. To give Harry his family back. I'm just not confident that I won't-

"Monumentally fuck it up?" he offered.

She nodded, "Yeah."

Draco sighed and crossed the space between them, sitting next to her on the bed. "You know, you've probably become the closest thing I have to a best friend in the last few years. I trust you, and I don't trust many people. Ginny, but that's really about it. But I trust you. If you think you're going to fuck up, I'll trust your judgement. I'll help you. But I think it's unnecessary."

"You trust me?"

"Don't turn this into a thing, Granger."

She chuckled, "Oh yes, Merlin forbid Draco Malfoy's icy soul melt a bit."

"The ice in my soul is what keeps my skin looking nice. Without it, I'd look as haggard as Potter does."

"Hey! I take offence to that!" Harry said, walking into the room, a lopsided smile on his face. "I am not haggard."

"Potter, you're twenty one years old, and you look forty." Draco teased.

"Fuck you, wanker!"

"I'd rather not. You'd enjoy it too much, Blaise would be jealous," Draco said, a smirk pulling his face to the side.

"You two are ridiculous," Hermione said. "Can you quit your squabbling and help me or do I need to Obliviate myself?"

"Yes, fine. But you know it isn't going to be pleasant. Burying memories in someone's head is a rather intimate affair. It's going to be painful," Draco warned.

"You're altering your memories?" Harry asked, "Why?"

"I don't want to give away any information that could alter the future. I could save someone, but then it could alter things so terribly that things turn out even worse than they are now. Time travel is tricky, Harry, you know this. It's not cyclical or linear, it's sort of… both. And there's no telling what could happen if I accidentally slip up and divulge information I shouldn't."

Harry nodded, "I understand. But what if… Will you be able to remember? When you come back, will you remember us?"

She nodded, "I'm just burying the big stuff. I have important dates written down with minimal details in case I need a reference. But I can't be emotionally involved before I know them. I need to have major moments buried."

Harry and Hermione began to work with Draco, telling him the things to look for and what needed to be concealed. Memories like the day Sirius was killed, the knowledge of how Peter Pettigrew betrayed his friends, the day Remus died in battle. Once they figured out what needed to be changed, Harry left the room to give Draco the privacy he needed to work.

"What about Lupin being a werewolf, should we conceal that as well?" Draco asked.

Hermione thought about it a moment before shaking her head, "No, I don't think so. It could be useful to know that going into it. That way I don't have to take the time to adjust to it."

Draco nodded, giving a noncommittal hum as he drew his wand from the holster on his hip.

"If you-

"I have one more thing to ask of you Draco," she whispered, looking up at him from the edge of the bunk she sat on. "And I need you to keep this between us."

Draco arched an eyebrow at her and folded his arms over his chest, "What?"

"I want to make an Unbreakable Vow."

Draco stared at her for a long time, his eyes burning into her face as he scanned over it. Finally, he shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"Why should I?!" he asked, "Hermione, if something happens and you-

"I know," she snapped. "I know what happens, I'm not an idiot. I've read up on them. I need to be absolutely certain that there's no possibility that I will do anything to change the future. Please, Draco."

Draco stared at her again, his brows pulling together before he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine."

"You'll do it?"

"Apparently," he said. "But Granger, we need to be very clear with the words we use. You need to leave yourself loopholes."

"No!" She said, "That completely defeats the-

"And what happens if you have to offer up the information. You have to tell them who you are? Then what? Either way, you'll die! At least if you leave room for the mistake, you can save your own skin. Trust me, Granger. You need loopholes."

She laughed bitterly to herself. Trusting Draco sodding Malfoy. She briefly wondered what a sixteen year old Hermione would have to say about the predicament she currently found herself in. "Fine," she said "Loopholes."

Draco held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. When she grasped his wrist, his fingers dug into hers and he pressed the tip of his wand to where their flesh met.

"Do you, Hermione Granger, vow to only reveal information of your task in a life or mission threatening circumstance?"

"I do."

"And will you vow, to never intentionally cause events that will alter the course of current history up to the date of October 31, 2001?"

"I will."

"And do you vow to return to your own timeline, on or before October 31st, 1981? Even if your mission is incomplete?"

Hermione's eyes met his and she nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I do."

Her wrist glowed, with each vow- a tiny thread of magic wrapping its way around her wrist and singing into pale flesh. When she said her final vow, all three threads glowed gold and then faded into thin, red lines before disappearing.

Draco stepped away from her, dropping his arm back to his side. He pointed his wand between her eyes.

"Whenever you're ready," he said.

She nodded, "Do it."

"Legilimens…"


An hour later, Hermione sat clutching her head. It was pounding, her ears ringing and the light nearly enough to bring tears to her eyes. She could only remember one time before now that her head had ever hurt this badly. The day after the Battle of Hogwarts, when she had woken up after finally getting some rest. She had needed to take a pain relief potion just to open her eyes and the headache had lingered for days afterward.

"I warned you," Draco murmured, shoving a phial into her hands. "Burying emotions attached to memories is far more invasive than just burying the memory itself. But then, you've always had to be exceedingly difficult."

Hermione tossed back the contents of the phial and waited a beat, allowing the potion time to work. "Doing things the easy way isn't necessarily the best way of doing them. And if I'm doing something, I'm doing it the best way."

"Overachiever," Draco grumbled.

"Oh good, you're done!" Harry's voice came from somewhere on her left and she slowly peeled her eyes open to look at him. "How are you feeling?"

"My head is pounding still, but that's to be expected."

"I'd imagine so," Harry said. "So, I reckon we should ask a few questions, yeah? Make sure it worked?"

Draco scoffed, "It worked, Potter. I did it."

Harry rolled his eyes, "I'm not questioning your abilities, you dickhead. I just want to make sure!"

"Will there ever be a time where the two of you aren't bickering? I've just said my head is pounding, could you give it a rest?" Hermione asked, slowly sitting up and rubbing her temples.

"As long as Potter sees fit to be fucking one of my best mates-

"Merlin, can you just ask your questions?!" Hermione said, an exasperated look on her face.

Draco chuckled as Harry sat on the bed next to her, his mouth twisting to the side in thought. "Who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts our third year?"

"Well that's easy, it was…" Hermione's brows furrowed together in thought as she tried to remember. It was on the tip of her tongue, as if she knew but couldn't recall the name. "I-I don't know."

"Good," Harry said. "What happened to Sirius?"

"He… was killed?" She asked, her forehead creasing in thought.

"Lucky guess, we're at war. A lot of people we knew were killed. Who killed him?"

"Oh, it was… It was... " Hermione shook her head, "I can't remember."

"Good work, Malfoy." Harry praised, clapping Draco on the back. "Last one, when did my parents die?"

"They were killed by Voldemort," She said, matter-of-factly.

"They were, when? I want the date, Hermione."

"You were very little." She said, trying to bring the memory of that knowledge to mind. "Was it… 1983?"

"Is that your answer, or are you guessing?" Harry asked.

"I'm guessing," Hermione sighed.

"You're wrong. But that's the point of this, isn't it? That you only take the information that you wrote down with you?"

She nodded, "It's to protect us all."

"Well, as lovely as it's been to sit here and test my spellwork, I'd say we'd better get moving. The moon should be at its peak about now." Draco said, patting his thighs twice before standing up and offering a hand to Hermione. "If you want to say goodbye to-

"No," she said, shaking her head. "No. It's not goodbye. I don't want to cause worry to anyone. As far as you're all aware, if this works properly, in minutes I'll be right back where I left off."

Draco gave a curt nod and Harry stood, shifting his weight from foot to foot and rubbing at the back of his neck. She knew he was nervous, knew he thought what she was doing was risky and possibly even a bit unnecessary. A point she had been trying to bat away from her mind for a week now. Logic told her that she had a little over two years, that was plenty of time to figure out an answer on their own. To discover what the missing ingredient to the potion is, to figure out how to brew it and to administer it to not only her, but to the others that had been turned.

It was the pesky emotional side of her that told her all of that sounded good, but it wasn't possible. That with battles and ambushes happening at regular intervals around them, it would be nearly impossible to focus solely on finding the answers she needed. And without anyone there who knew them, they would waste precious resources and time researching something that could be a dead end.

All Hermione had to do was go back, go back to the first war, talk to James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus. Possibly even Snape… Go back and find out what they knew, what they had already been working on. She had been fighting with her own mind, constantly reminding herself that she didn't know they were working on this. She could be wasting her time and risking dismantling her own timeline for no reason. But her gut told her otherwise, and Harry was always telling her that she needed to listen to her intuition more. To follow her gut when she had that feeling.

Harry pulled her into a tight hug, nuzzling his face against her hair and kissing the top of her head. "Be careful," he whispered. "I love you, 'Mione"

"I love you, too, Harry." Hermione whispered, squeezing his waist.

Draco led her into the Forbidden Forest and moved into a clearing where the moonlight hit the earth in a column of silver light. He pulled the familiar silver blade from it's spot on his ankle and handed it to her. "Keep this," he said, "I don't know if you'll need it for your blood offering, but just in case."

Hermione nodded, trying her best to push forth a tight lipped smile, "Thank you."

He nodded, "Remember, you have to give intention. And every waxing gibbous, if you wish to remain there, you have to give a blood offering."

"I know," she replied, "Dark and Light, blood and soul."

"Your intentions will be clear, you just state them and focus on what time you need to travel to. I'll be here when you return."

Hermione took a deep breath and stared at the small dagger in her hand. She pressed it against her palm, wincing as she dragged it across her skin. The blood pooled instantly against her palm and she clasped her hand around the amulet that hung from her neck.

With one last look at Draco, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "Ego offerreanima mea: dedi sanguinem meum," she felt the air shift around her, as if becoming magically charged. "Magicae obscurum et invocavi, sanguine anime. Quero voluntatem redire sanguinis detrimento nullam scientiam."

The leaves at her feet rustled as the air around her began moving, blowing cool bursts against her face.

"Per sanguinem enim petere praesidium quod mihi en itineribus et crescent. Per ipsam animam meam ego rogabu ut mini in peregrinatione mea sitas. Ego offerre anima mea: dedi sanguinem meum!"

The air was twisting rapidly around her, a tornado of autumn-cool air and electrified magic. A pressure closed in on all sides, pushing the breath from her lungs and forcing her knees to buckle beneath her.

"Ego offerre anima mea! Dedi sanguinem meum!" Hermione chanted over and over. She could feel the heat from the stone her bloodied hand was wrapped around, searing into her skin and pulling blood from her palm.

In a rush of static air, her skin prickling against the whirlwind, she felt the heat subside, the wind slow and the rustling of the leaves stop. She took a few gulping breaths, trying to calm her furiously beating heart. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up.

Draco was gone.

The forest was still lit by the silvery glow of the moon and she sat on her knees. Hermione pulled her hand from her chest, dropping the stone and looking at her palm. She could make out four very faint runes burned into her flesh. Slowly, Hermione brought herself to her feet and looked around her. Everything looked the same, of course it would; she was in the middle of the Forbidden Forest. But it felt different. The wards were certainly not the same, heavy magic she was used to. The air felt lighter, somehow, as if it had yet to experience the death and destruction her air knew.

There was one way to find out for sure, one way to know that it worked and to move her plan forward. Hermione took a few steps, a few deep breaths, and pushed forward. Her steps moving in quick succession as she made her way to Hogwarts grounds to meet with her old Headmaster, all the while, the words she repeated ringing in her ears:

"I offer my soul, I offer my blood. I call upon magic, both Dark and Light, of blood and of soul. By blood, I ask to return with intention of knowledge; to cause no harm. By blood, I ask for protection and that my travels be fruitful. By soul I ask intuition, that my travels remain focused. I offer my soul, I offer my blood. I offer my soul, I offer my blood."

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a/n: As always, mega alpha love goes to Mayghaen17. If you haven't read her stuff, you really should. She's amazing.

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