"There are times in life when it is essential to be able to confide in a listening ear."
Gayle Forman
Minerva McGonagall was one of those people who had always known her calling. Ever since her first transfiguration classes, she had been working towards her dream of becoming a transfiguration teacher. Her mentor, Albus Dumbledore, had always believed in her and pushed her to explore the more difficult branches of this noble art. It was thanks to him that she became an animagus, and then taught at Hogwarts. Life was full of ups and downs, and she had to endure an extremely boring career at the Ministry before she could finally become a teacher and practice her dream job. Minerva had never regretted following her dream, never. But sometimes her class pushed her to the limit, like today. The seventh year students from Gryffindor and Slytherin were not listening to her. Sure, it was a theory class, but it couldn't be that boring. Only Lily Evans and Dorcas Meadowes were paying attention to his explanations, and that was far too little compared to the number of students in the class. It was very rare that they all listened, but there were usually more than two of them. She looked around the classroom and took a deep breath.
"Will you please stop playing stupid games. You're in class! Your NEWTs are at the end of the year. Transfiguration can be a defining subject depending on your career choices. Some of you want to be aurors, don't you? The metamorphosis you will follow will be much more complex than the one you are doing here, the practice will be at home and the theory in class. Do you really believe that you will become aurors by playing like this? Even first year students don't do that. Not all of you want to be aurors, but who cares? Every wizard needs to use transfiguration, practically every day. You certainly don't like this class, but you need to grow up. There's a time to have fun and a time to learn."
She paused and gave the whole class a knowing look. She threatened that if anyone messed up her class, they would lose fifty points from their house. Then she saw, with amazement, Hermione, who was lying on her table and seemed to be sleeping.
"Miss Grace!" she called, sounding indignant.
Hermione did not move and Minerva hurried towards her. All eyes were on the young woman, and some were whispering amongst themselves. Minerva shook her roughly and Hermione threw her head back sharply. The teacher couldn't hold back a gasp. Hermione's eyes were glazed over and a strangely sadistic smile was on her face.
"Miss Grace!"
"You mudblood, crucio!" she shouted and then burst into a sadistic laugh.
The class was petrified and all the students looked at each other without knowing what to do. Hermione alternated between screaming in pain, casting torture spells and laughing sadistically. She was convulsing between each new phase and Minerva was trying to keep her in her chair as best she could. She ordered James and Sirius to come and help her. They came over to her, and held her down in her chair.
"Blood traitor! You are a disgrace to the great noble house of Black, avada kedavra!" she shouted before screaming in pain again.
"Professor, there's a problem," James said, looking down at his bloody hands, which had been resting on Hermione's neck.
They then noticed that Hermione's upper body was red and that blood was running down her arm.
"Lupin, Evans, get Professor Lucas, the rest of you out, class is over," she said in a white voice.
"Professor Lucas, b-"
"Now Evans"
Lily obeyed and they ran with Remus to Professor Lucas' class. They stormed into the Defence Against the Dark Arts class in front of the stunned second year. Remus tensed immediately when he saw the panicked looks on the faces of the two students.
"Professor, Helena, McGonagall, come on" Lily muttered breathlessly.
Remus had blanched furiously and declared the class over, to the curious and uncomprehending eyes of his students. He ran to the tranfiguration room, and saw James and Sirius with bloody hands and Minerva with a worried face. All the other students had gone out, but Mary, Alice and Dorcas were waiting outside the room.
"What's going on?"
"Mudblood, crucio, avada kedavra," Hermione shouted."
"It's like she's possessed."
"'That's impossible Mr Potter, she can't be possessed from a distance like that."
"James is right. You don't know her, but she has my cousin's expression."
At Remus' even more worried look, he continued:
"She's never met her, has she?"
"Mr Black, Mr Potter, thank you for your help, twenty points for Gryffindor. Go and wash your hands and don't talk to anyone about this. No discussion."
They walked out, not grumbling specifically about it. McGonagall's 'don't talk to anyone' didn't seem to include the Gryffindor girls, as James told them everything. They all went out into the park, wondering about Helena Grace, the new girl who wasn't so new anymore.
On the side of the two teachers, the atmosphere was much colder.
"Do you think Bellatrix could control her?"
"I don't know. She has the mark on her arm, and she bleeds when she thinks about it too much, but she can't possess her through that. Why does she bleed so much!"
Remus looked at the wound on Hermione's neck and couldn't contain a grimace of disgust.
"By Merlin."
Minerva was equally shocked at the wound. On the back of Hermione's neck was a large tattoo, similar to the Mark of Darkness, but it was not this design that was there, but a gigantic snake, which looked alive, ready to bite. From its fangs flowed blood, which was leaving Hermione's body in abundance. The two wizards set about trying to stop the bleeding, which was far from easy. Hermione kept moving, screaming, laughing and torturing, and no spell would calm her. She wouldn't fall asleep under the sleeping spells and she wouldn't petrify under the petrifying ones. The stupefaction spell didn't work either.
"Now we know. When did she get this injury?"
"I have no idea, she never showed it to me It can't be the two times she went to Malfoy Manor, the first time she tortured him but it was his arm she marked and the second she didn't torture him alone, all the Death Eaters were there."
Remus paused and thought about what Hermione had told him about the months following the great battle. She had set up the Resistance Headquarters in Grimmaud's Square, as for the order, and the answer came into his mind.
"I had forgotten about that attack. They went to Lestrange Manor to free prisoners and it went wrong. Many died, I think Kingsley was even killed there, and Hermione stayed with Bellatrix. She tortured her for many hours and it was thanks to Ron and Neville that she got out. She didn't tell me much about it, but the torture left a deeper mark on her than she said. I understand why now. But that torture was a long time ago, why now? Why possess her?"
"There are far more dangerous things Remus, Hermione can be controlled by Bellatrix Lestrange. Probably without her even knowing it, because she hasn't met her in this world yet, has she. We need to wake her up before we get into meaningless conjecture."
Remus nodded and took Hermione by the arm. He kept telling her that she was stronger than the Death Eater, that she could control herself, but nothing changed, Hermione kept screaming and shouting atrocities.
"Legimency. It could work, couldn't it?"
"I doubt it, Hermione has had several years to train and she won't let anyone into her mind that easily. She explained to me that she had conditioned her to fight off any outside attack, even when she was tortured or unconscious. It took her years, training every day, so I highly doubt I could get in. I've pretty much mastered occlumency, but I'm far from mastering legimency."
"But we can still try, maybe it will wake up when it detects an intrusion attempt."
The two teachers tried in turn, but neither could bring her back. They waited, checking Hermione's pulse and whether she was bleeding again. They were both in a sorry state, their clothes stained with blood. The Gryffindor's who were stationed outside the door had finally left and they stood there for an hour, listening to Hermione moan and then scream, with nothing they could do to ease her. The exhaustion on her face showed, even as she took in Bellatrix's mimicry, and after one last heartbreaking wail, she sat up abruptly. She looked around the room, disoriented, and stifled a groan when she saw Remus and Minerva, stained with blood, probably her own. She gathered her courage and began to speak.
"I can explain everything."
Hermione waited for an answer that didn't come, Remus looked at her disappointed, angry and worried at the same time, while Minerva pursed her lips sternly.
"This mark, it's... Bellatrix Lestrange made it for me. It disgusts me, much more than the one on my arm. It's visceral. She can control me, that snake."
The witch paused abruptly, gasping for air. She could feel the anxiety attack coming on, she was having hot flashes, difficulty breathing. The last time she'd had one was months ago, when Ella, her Muggle friend, had misspoken and thought Remus was dead. Her two friends approached her and spoke to her, but she could only hear distant voices. She concentrated on her vision, to get a clear view of her surroundings, and with perseverance succeeded.
"Hermione, you can talk about this later."
No! Minerva, come on! She has to talk. She has to get rid of her demons."
"I'll do it, Rem', it's just... it's hard to talk about. The torture took place in Lestrange Manor, I was alone with her, she used countless dark magic spells, but to my surprise, not cruciatus. She tortured me, and she ended up with this mark. Ron and Neville saved me a few minutes later, but it was a close call. I had a hard time recovering, I was hooked on sleeping potions for weeks. While the others were fighting, I was in my bed, rambling between nightmare and illusion. Many died. I couldn't help Ron save Neville and the others. If I had been there, many of them would have survived. I would never have let them risk their lives like that. I feel so ashamed. I feel so guilty" she cried.
Both teachers let her cry, although Remus would have preferred to comfort her and hug her, Minerva held him back with a wave, Hermione didn't need the touch, not in her condition.
"It's not your fault Mione, you're not invincible, you can't stop everything. We can't save the world without making sacrifices. That's what happened. You have nothing to be ashamed of."
"I'm possessed by Bellatrix Lestrange! How could I not be ashamed? I'll always remember the first time, Ron was there, helpless, he could do nothing. She possessed me when she felt like it, and I couldn't control it. I nearly drowned many times because of her, I nearly immolated myself with fire, I made a spectacle of myself in front of all the Gryffindors who will be fighting alongside me in a few months! This mark burns me, like the Dark Mark! I'm like the Death Eaters before Voldemort! It can control me! You don't know that feeling, to have more than your life, your own control slipping away. I don't control myself. I have no idea what this spell can do. Maybe it can kill me from a distance, torture me, I don't know. It's worse than Harry and Voldemort's bond, because I can't break it!"
Without waiting for an answer, Hermione rushed out of the room, to the desperate cries of her friends. They could never understand her pain, her shame. They must have hated her. She was losing control of herself to the witch who had killed so many people, who had tortured Alice and Frank Longbottom into madness, who had killed Sirius and Tonks. She was so disgusted with herself.
She was in a mad rage against herself. She needed to let off steam. She was alone in the middle of the forbidden forest, casting spells against the trees that surrounded her. Her conscience had preferred not to take her training dummy, which would have surely ended up in dust after a feudeymon spell and she would have had to rebuild it from scratch, which she didn't want to do at all. She set fire to some trees, channelled her magic into one place to create a gigantic feudeymon, which was shaped like a lion, similar to the Gryffindor one. She stayed with her lion for several hours before making it disappear. She tried unsuccessfully to produce a patronus, she tried to do so every day, but the results were still not there, much to her dismay.
She fell heavily to the ground, exhausted by the amount of magic she had used to produce her fire lion. She fell asleep on the grass and only woke up a few hours later, at nightfall. The view was beautiful, the sky was blue, pink and orange, the clouds were purple. The sky added to the magical dimension of Hogwarts. Hermione then did something she had never done before, she certainly wasn't ready, but although surrounded by many people, she felt more alone than ever.
She had always struggled not to let her emotions control her, not to do this, Ron had warned her of the dangers of this but Hermione at this moment felt no stronger than she had in previous days, the opposite was probably true, but her heart told her to do it. Hermione had never put her heart before her mind. The latter usually won out, except when it came to her closest friends. But Hermione, for once, listened to her heart and took out of her pocket a heavy, round, black stone measuring a few inches. There was no inscription but a line and a circle enclosed in a triangle. The time traveller closed her eyes and concentrated all her energy on the Resurrection Stone. She kept her eyes closed for a moment. A mixture of fear and anticipation grew inside her, but she was afraid of what she was going to see, afraid of not being able to shake off the illusions, of having another memory crisis.
"Hermione"
The voice was warm and familiar. Hermione let the two big tears that were being held back by those eyes fall from emotion. She didn't think she would ever hear that voice again and hearing it this time made her as happy as it made her sad.
"Ron" she moaned.
The young woman opened her eyes and her gaze fell on her best friend. He had never looked happier. His blue eyes sparkled, his red hair was flaming and he looked at Hermione with a smile on his face.
"I miss you so much."
"I know you do. I miss you too, but I'm glad you're alive."
"I'm not. Life without you is horrible. Every day, I think about you and Har-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Harry Potter emerged from the shadows with a big smile, similar to Ron's. He looked so peaceful that it was hard to believe that he was the only one who was still alive. He looked so peaceful it was almost disconcerting. Hermione's tears redoubled and she moved a little closer to the shadows.
"Harry."
"I've missed you Mione" replied the Chosen one with a contrite smile.
"I'm so tired, I miss both of you so much" she whispered quietly.
"Go to sleep then!"
"Ron, you're not being tactful," sighed the no longer living Boy who lived. "Hermione is talking about the fatigue of living."
Ron laughed and apologised to his best friend, who was still crying, happy to see them.
"It's good to have you back. You haven't changed at all, I mean, you look so much happier."
"We are. I've got my parents back. They told me they were proud of me, after all I'd done."
Harry's eyes sparkled with a happiness that Hermione had never seen him display, even at his happiest moments at Hogwarts.
"Speaking of Harry's parents, Hermione you're friends with the dungeon bat!"
"Don't call him that, Sev's a good friend. The only one I could make in this era. I know it's strange but I can't help it."
"I know you have a hard time with marauders and my mother's friends, but you must have a gap, you're supposed to be twenty-three, not seventeen. I don't blame you, I have to say you looked amazing in your Hogwarts dress."
"Did you see me?"
"Of course, we want to know how you are, what's become of you" Ron replied, his eyes shining.
"I'm so scared! I'll never be able to complete the mission, I'm destroyed just by destroying the tiara. How can I possibly succeed in destroying them all? I want so much to succeed, Harry, I want to give you the life you never had, with your parents, Sirius, Remus... I want all the Weasleys to survive, I want you to become friends and be happy, even if you are not born yet. But sometimes life gives up on me, I don't have the strength to fight Death anymore, I've met it so many times. And these marks on my body, I disgust myself. You must be ashamed of me!"
"Do you hear what you're saying? We can never be ashamed of you! You are our best friend, you are the strongest person I know. You will succeed! That's why you've survived, you're the Time Chosen, the Hogwarts Chosen. This is no small thing. You're going to succeed in the mission, save the world, send Voldemort six feet under and you'll join us when you're a very old witch, at least as old as Dumbledore!"
Between tears, Hermione couldn't help but giggle. She missed them so much.
"And you're not alone, Remus is there for you and you're there for him. He's already told you that, but don't forget it. He may not know you like Ron or I do, but you've shared over two years together, searching for the Jewels of Time. He's been through a lot too. The death of the marauders destroyed him, the war just as much. Don't forget that."
"I know, Harry, but we're both so broken that I don't want to hurt him any more than I have to."
"Harry's right, you can't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders! Hermione, we have to go."
"No! Ron, Harry, you can't leave me, not again."
"We have to. We're not part of the living anymore, you have to understand that. One last thing, you can't save everyone Hermione, this is a war, there will be deaths. Don't privilege me at the expense of others."
"You can't ask me to do that Harry, I'll put you before everyone else, I can't promise you that."
"You must. I'm asking you to. You'll do it Hermione. Never forget that I love you. We'll always be there for you. Don't wear out the stone at the expense of your mental health, give it to someone who will use it wisely. I love you Mione."
Harry faded away and only Ron was left. Hermione was crying her eyes out now and she wasn't holding back. She had tried to be strong in front of her friends, but now she couldn't.
"Harry is right. And I love you too Hermione, even if it's harder for me to express my feelings. One last piece of advice, Harry was the subject of a prophecy, maybe you or Remus were too? Take care of yourself. We are with you, in your heart."
Ron faded away as well, Hermione had rushed towards him but had only passed through him. He smiled sadly and followed his best friend into death. Hermione had collapsed to the ground, long sobs breaking the silence of the Forbidden Forest. She had been so happy to see Harry and Ron, to be able to talk to them, but that moment had passed far too quickly for her liking and now she was alone again. She clutched the stone to her heart and cried for a long time.
Hidden behind a tree, someone had witnessed the whole scene, and although she suspected something, this discussion only raised many more questions. She slowly approached Hermione and sat down next to her, startling the young woman.
"Hello Helena."
The witch looked at her disconcerted. What was she doing there? Had she heard the conversation? She couldn't see Harry and Ron, but she could hear him.
"Mary! But, what, you," stammered the Time Chosen.
"To answer your question, yes I heard you. Can I see the stone?" she asked with a small smile.
"Do you believe in the Deathly Hallows?" said Hermione, surprised.
"Of course I do. My mum works with magic, I remind you, but I've never had the chance to see one. It's really beautiful."
"Mary, what are you doing here?"
"Keeping you company, you're always crying and you look like shit. I'm sorry about Harry and Ron. I don't know them but they must have been great people, you don't get attached to anyone, but you were attached to them. That's what marks me out the most. You seem so unapproachable, so cold, but today I saw you as you really are. A very beautiful person.
"Someone once told me to become like that, as cold as stone. And I dare to hope that this is what will allow me to win. But you know, I'm not a good person, I've killed, tortured people and after a while, hearing them scream didn't make me feel anything, I didn't feel empathy. All my friends died."
"Except for Remus" the witch said, as calmly as possible.
She said it in such a detached way that Hermione wondered if she had heard it correctly.
"What?"
"You heard me right Helena Grace, or whatever your name is, I know you're from the future."
Hermione was so dazed, she had opened her mouth in a perfect O and her eyes looked ready to pop out of her skull.
"My mum works on magic, including time magic, even though she hasn't figured out how you ended up here yet, from what I've told her, she's guessed that you're not from this time."
"My name is Hermione Jean Granger."
Mary nodded, she didn't seem surprised that Hermione agreed with her argument rather than refuting it.
"And you're here to save the world. What year are you from?"
"I was born on the nineteenth of September 1979. We left in March 2002."
"You're twenty-three? You don't look it."
"Human transfiguration. Without it, I look older than I am. I won't show you how I look, I'm not pretty. My body is riddled with scars. But I must have a picture."
Hermione pulled a picture out of her bag but held back before handing it to the Gryffindor.
"How can I be sure you won't tell anyone what you told me?"
"I wouldn't. It would endanger my mother, it would endanger you. And you're far too important."
Hermione handed her the picture, the golden trio so well known throughout Hogwarts, at least in their day. Mary looked at the picture apprehensively, as if she was afraid of violating Hermione's privacy and secrets. Her gaze fell on a young man with red hair, a smile on his face and a zest for life, a carbon copy of the one she had seen when he had been working on human transfiguration. So it was the one called Ron. Next to him was a young brunette woman, with hazel eyes, very beautiful, and her hair was impressively tangled. The last person was a dark-haired boy with emerald eyes hidden behind a pair of round glasses.
"It's Harry."
"Harry Potter isn't it?"
"He looks so much like him, at least physically, he looks much more like Lily in his demeanour. Except for work. I do everything. I miss them so much."
Hermione's tears were starting to well up in the corners of her eyes but she swallowed them and took a deep breath.
"How is the future?"
"Disastrous. "
Hermione then told the story of her life, as well as Harry's, Ron's, and everyone else's. She left out many details, not wanting to tell Mary everything, you never really know who might have access to your memories.
"I'll make an unbreakable vow"
"hank you. It's nothing against you, but a sentence can always slip out, memories can be taken."
"I will practice protecting my mind."
The two women took the vow together, and held each other's arms for a long moment, staring into each other's eyes without saying a word, sealing their friendship and their secrets at that very moment.
"I know the marauders and the girls will ask you questions, if you want you can tell them that best friends are... dead. But nothing else."
"I would, and Helena, or Hermione, reminiscing too much about the past is not good. Your friends are at peace in death. Don't bring them back to the living world too often."
"I'm going to tell Rem about our conversation, I want you to know that."
They went their separate ways, thinking about the strange conversion they had just had, Mary hadn't expected this when she entered the Forbidden Forest and Hermione didn't think her secret would be discovered so quickly. They headed for the Gryffindor common room for one and the Defence Against Dark Arts room for the other, preparing to reveal some dark secrets.