Chapter 3. a Time to Escape

She is tempted to confide in her friends. If nothing else, she can at least bounce some ideas with people she can trust.

Especially Harry.

She can see the worry that he quickly suppresses when he looks at her. She notices the sidelong glances he gives his partner, Draco, whenever the three of them are actually home at the same time to have dinner together. The silent query. As if Draco may know the answer.

But what can she tell them?

That she hallucinates saving young Sirius Black? The head of the Noble and most Ancient House of Black? Harry's godfather? Narcissa's cousin? A man she barely spoke more than a few words to during war time in Grimmauld Place? A man who currently seems hell bent on avoiding her?

If they didn't think she needed therapy before, they sure as hell will be thinking so now.

Bad enough they know that she used to suffer from visions of different worlds ever since Dolohov's curse hit her back in fifth year.

Much darker worlds.

One where Harry died in the woods and where they lost the second Wizarding war.

One where Harry survived, but they still lost him later as the war waged on.

So many different iterations.

Different lives altogether that swirled around in her mind, leading her to seek a Healer to help sort through the various lives and determine which one was truly hers.

They have theories about it of course —especially the Unspeakables. A result of a quite overactive imagination as a child. A stray curse gone wrong affecting her mind. A sort of post traumatic disorder from the stress of the war. All theories lead to an unstable individual so she learns to stop talking about them.

She learns to tamp them down—almost suppress them.

She learns to hide. And she learns to highly compartmentalize. Those lives she envisions are tucked far far away in the corners of her mind. Very rarely visited and more often ignored.

But every so often, she wonders.

She's watched enough muggle movies to know the concept of parallel universes. And she wonders just how probable they really are.

Not that it helps her current situation. She doubts wizarding Britain even entertains anything outside their little enclave. And since she's gotten rather fond of the fact she no longer has mandatory mind healer visits, she's not inclined to do anything to change the said situation.

That said, Harry is her friend.

And he's kept her secrets before.

But something stops her from spilling these particular secrets all the same. Rather, she stops herself from voicing all her thoughts to her already burdened friend. She finds various reasons, rationales…excuses!… not to say anything. Not to risk herself.

She's the brightest witch of her age.

Surely she can figure this out.

Except she doesn't.

Short of forcing Sirius Black to talk to her and asking him directly, there's no bloody way for her to figure out if inadvertent time traveling is something she needs to add to her list of WTF Experiences in the Magical World.

And on the off chance she did time travel and she isn't going crazy, there's no guarantee Sirius Black would even remember an encounter with her in some dark alley as he was quite young.

There are no records in the DMLE of Sirius Black ever being reported as missing by his parents. And forget sorting through all the drunk and disorderly conducts in the sixties. She's already caused some raised eyebrows from Draco when she had asked him and Harry for records regarding the Black family.

The Blacks are also his family after all.

She finds herself uncharacteristically stumped, for lack of better word.

But she's always been good at compartmentalizing, a skill she's had since at a young age, and life is quite busy. This time around, she makes the conscious choice to table the mystery until such a chance presents itself to allow her to gather more data.

The third time it happens, the familiar headache brings the puzzle she is trying to solve to the forefront. It helps that only weeks have passed since the last episode. The momentary disorientation she feels at not being in her kitchen quickly resolves itself once she makes the connection that this may be one of those…experiences.

She tried to assess her new surroundings, but was greeted by what she could only consider to be a musty room. The stone walls and dirt floor reminded her of the since closed off area that was the dank dungeons of Malfoy Manor. No windows helped her vision and the only light came from the small opening of the wooden door in front of her.

With trepidation, she turned the handle and heard the distinct click reverberate in the room. She winced at the loudness and hoped no one noticed as she gently pulled the door open.

There was good news and bad news.

The good news was that she was right. She was definitely in some dungeon. And as luck would have it, that bit of information was also the bad news. She could see the rows of doors similar to the one she just opened. Torches lit the empty hallway and she wondered if there were others here with her.

To be more specific, she wondered if a young Sirius Black would be here. He was the only common denominator in these incidents and while she did not have a working theory as to why this was happening to her, the commonality of Sirius Black on both previous incidents and this would certainly help establish a pattern.

Merlin help her if that wasn't the case.

She heard a door from beyond the hallway creak open and the sound of deep voices got louder as they got closer. She squeezed herself against a pillar, hiding her small frame as much as she could whilst casting a Notice-Me-Not charm around herself for good measure.

She watched as one of the men carried the prone form of a child over his shoulders. The man was tall, dark haired with a lanky build. His features didn't look familiar, and neither did his fairer and stockier companion.

"The brat's more trouble than he's worth," a grumble came from the said man.

"He's a Black," his companion returned, as if it were the answer to everything.

A Black.

Her heart started to speed up.

Sirius Black?

"Those Purebloods are quite possessive of their heirs," he added, a touch of bitterness lacing his tone. "They'll pay up."

Half-bloods or muggleborns then, she thought to herself.

"You sure about that?" the man snorted as he shoved one of the doors open and hurriedly entered. "They got a spare heir."

Would they be referring to Regulus?

"They'll pay out of principle," was the reply as he followed closely. He gave a somewhat cynical laugh. "They'll pay to get him and they'll pay for us to keep our mouths shut. After all, 'twouldn't do a'tall to have mudbloods and half bloods getting the best of 'em."

Hermione stayed where she was and strained to hear the rest of the conversation. It got a bit muffled, but soon enough, both men came out and locked the door behind them.

"Just send the fucking owl," she heard, the voices retreating.

Once she was certain they were out of earshot, she slowly moved towards the door they'd just left and murmured a quick Alohamora under her breath. She heard the door lock disengage and she silently lifted the handle and pulled the heavy door open as quietly as the creaking hinges would allow.

There in the room was the prone form of a child, Sirius Black, she presumed, judging from the conversation she heard. Carefully closing the door back behind her, she approached stealthily and crouched down to examine him. Casting a few quick diagnostic charms, she was able to determine that no physical harm other than a few bruises and a possible Stupefy spell were at work.

Once she was certain of no lasting physical damage, she took her time to observe the slightly older version of the child she encountered a few weeks ago. Her diagnostic charms put him at seven years old, but she still found it hard to reconcile this young Sirius with the very drunk man she encountered months before.

The child before her let out a small groan, drawing her thoughts back to the present and her possible task at hand. In both instances of her supposed time travel, she encountered Sirius Black in some sort of life threatening distress. Also in both instances is the fact that she was thrown back in her timeline after such a time as she had "saved" him from the said trouble.

If this encounter follows suit, then she hypothesized that she was here to save Sirius from his kidnappers.

Gently, she tapped his face, hoping to wake him.

He groaned once again, but remained unconscious.

"Rennervate," she whispered, watching as his eyes fluttered slowly open before he started to jerk away from her in panic.

She held her hands up, one of them with her index fingers against her lips as she implored him with her eyes to remain quiet. "Shh, shh," she whispered. "It's ok. I mean you no harm."

She watched his eyes dart around the room, his young mind processing where they are and almost certainly recalling the events prior. She could see that he was about to let out a scream when she interrupted him with, "They might come back if they know you're awake." Her eyes pleaded with him. "Please, I swear to you on my magic that I mean you no harm. I'm trying to help."

His eyes were still suspicious as they attempted to adjust to the dim lighting. She could see him take stock of their surroundings.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "I woke up here just like you."

It wasn't a lie.

She watched him mull over her answer.

"Did they take you too?" he asked hesitantly, still a bit suspicious.

She couldn't blame him.

"Are we trapped here?"

"No," she chose to answer his last question. "But I'm pretty sure I can get us out." She infused confidence in her voice. Again, it wasn't a lie. She had her wand. She could get them out. She was sure that his two kidnappers never thought to have a time traveling witch in the dungeon where they brought their charge. She doubted anti-apparition wards were anywhere in place.

His eyes looked hopeful at her response.

"But first," she continued, "I need to know what happened to you." She needed to know some details if she were to apparate them to safety.

His face turned mulish.

"You can tell me," she said plaintively. "I just want to make sure I know enough to take you somewhere safe instead." She paused, noting more of his hesitation. "I know you don't know me—"

"I do," he interrupted her. "Don't I?"

Hermione looked at him closely.

Did he remember? Was this the same timeline as before?

"You…I think I know you," he said hesitantly. "You—you saved me," he said. "From before. Didn't you?"

She grinned. "Looks like you have a guardian angel, pup," she said with a hint of amusement.

"Guardian angel?"

She shook her head. "Muggle phrase," she muttered.

His eyes darkened. "Are you with dirty muggles? Are you a mudblood?"

A quick inhale of her breath was the only reaction she showed at his turn of phrase.

"Muggles aren't dirty," she said sharply, her eyes narrowing. "They're people whose blood is as red as yours." Was she wrong? Was this not the Sirius Black she knew from before?

"Mother said—"

"And your mother is right about all things, is she?"

He looked like he was about to say something, but thought better of it. She could see the confusion and…guilt?… in his eyes.

Perhaps she was being too hard on him. He looks to be around seven yrs old and had only known the views of his family at this point. He'd had no chance to form an opinion outside his family's emToujours Pur/em mantra.

But now was a good place to start.

"I'm Muggleborn," she said candidly. "I'm going to try and help you," she promised, "and bring you back to your family."

"Mother says that Mudbloods are dirty magic stealers," he stated. "Those men that took me are Mudbloods."

Oh boy.

"First of all," she started carefully, "I would prefer if you didn't refer to us as Mudbloods. It's an awful word and it hurts me when you say it. We're muggleborns and we were born with our magic. No stealing required.

"Secondly, I am sorry that those men took you from your family. It was wrong of them and they should be held accountable. If I can, I will do everything in my power to ensure that they are.

And Thirdly, it's not quite polite to insult the very person trying to help you," she reproached. "Which brings me to my first point, my young pup."

"I'm not that young!" he interrupted her. "I'm seven now!"

She arched her brow at him and continued as if he never spoke.

"You will meet lots of different people in your life. Some good and some bad. It's always important to know that there are good and bad people and everything in between. But guess what? There are good and bad and everything in between whether or not you're a Pureblood or a Muggleborn. The hard part is figuring it out."

She saw his eyes glaze for a moment and attempted to tone down her lecturing and self righteous mode. She knew what she was saying went against everything he was being taught at home, but a large part of her desperately wanted him to start building the foundations against such rhetoric.

She knew he would eventually.

But at this point, who's to say she wasn't meant to give him the crumbs that will eventually lead to his rebellion and rejection of the Pureblood beliefs his parents held? At best, she was fulfilling destiny. At worst, she was expediting his awareness.

At least she hoped so.

That said, she began to wonder how her presence was impacting her own timeline. Was she always meant to be here?

Of course, now was probably not the time to go down that rabbit hole.

"Now," she continued, "why don't you tell me how you got here so I can figure out a way to get you back to your parents. I'm sure that they are worried about you."

He looked away from her.

She sighed.

It wasn't a surprise that he didn't trust her. She wouldn't necessarily trust the first person she saw after waking up from a kidnapping either.

"Sirius," she said softly.

"You know my name?" he questioned with a tilt of his head. The tone was both inquisitive with less hint of suspicion this time, but Hermione could tell it was still there.

"How could I not?" she responded. "Sirius Black of the Noble and most Ancient House of Black," she parroted his introduction of himself from before. "You remember telling me, right?"

She could see him struggle to pull the memory, a moment in time in his younger years.

"You..." he said softly, "you saved me. I told Reggie you were a ghost."

She laughed. "I told you already," she chided him, "I'm your guardian angel, pup. Why would you think I was a ghost?"

"You disappeared," he exclaimed. "You turned white and disappeared!"

Curious.

She never thought of what her appearance and disappearance would actually look like to the outside.

"What do you mean?" she asked carefully.

"You glowed white, like a ghost," he tried to explain. "But then you disappeared. But not like…not like when mother and father do it. It's not the same."

"Well," she pondered for a hot minute. Would it be best to have him think of her as a ghost? If this were real, would that have less impact on the timeline? Is she even preserving the timeline by saving him? Maybe someone else was supposed to save him!

"They told me you were a dream," he continued. He straightened himself more, sitting up.

Maybe.

Was she?

"They said I imagined you," his tone was accusing at this point. "Because you disappeared. You left me."

"I swear to you on my magic, Sirius," she told him again, "I mean you no harm. I'm here to save you."

She hoped.

"Tell me what happened," she said.

His eyes looked down guiltily.

"Sirius?"

"It's my fault," he confessed to her.

His breathing started getting agitated as he opened and closed his mouth.

"Take deep breaths, Sirius," she instructed. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not your fault."

He shook his head disbelievingly. "Reggie and I…Mother…" he started.

She placed a hand against his back and started to rub it gently. "Deep breaths, Sirius," she reminded him.

"I told her," he gasped in between breaths, "I told her I wish I wasn't with her. That I wish she wasn't my mother. That she'd go away!"

"You told who?"

"Mother," he said softly. "I was playing in the street with other kids and…and she got so mad. Dragged me away. She said that…that…that they were dirty muggles." He hiccuped. "And now she's gone. Just like I said I wanted."

Her heart ached for the little boy. She hadn't realized Sirius's isolation from his family started so young.

"Listen to me, Sirius," she said urgently. "I'll get you back to your mother." She could not believe she was making that statement to Sirius about Walburga Black. If by some miracle, this Sirius was from her timeline and he remembered this conversation, it was no wonder he was avoiding her. "And you can tell her you're sorry for what you said."

He sniffled. "Sometimes I'm not sorry," he confessed.

She could see that.

The beginnings is the rebellious Sirius she knew, the one that thought nothing of the Pureblood supremacy so prevalent amongst the upper echelon of wizarding Britain was in its infancy at this stage.

"It doesn't matter," she said gently. "As long as you're sorry when you say it, then it's ok."

"I don't want to be alone," he whispered when his eyes widened with realization. "Don't tell Reggie!"

She smiles inwardly. "I won't,"she assured him. "And you're not alone. I'm here. I promise, I'll be with you until we can get you back to safety."

"You'll be with me until I'm safe," he repeated plaintively.

"Yes," she replied. "It's a promise."

It was easy enough to apparate them away from whatever dungeon they were in and take them near Grimmauld Place. After a quick Disillusion spell, she made sure to first look around the grounds to get some clue as to where they were before doing so however. She wasn't familiar with many manors that had dungeons—Draco's being one of them—but she didn't think she was familiar with this particular one.

It would be helpful to know who conspired against the House of Black.

She lived in Grimmauld in her own time of course and was considered to be good friends with her timeline's current Black heir. If she worked under the assumption that: a) she wasn't losing her mind, and b) she was time traveling back to her own timeline, then there must be a reason why Sirius Black and her encounter…rather…timely "rescues" of him keep happening.

If this happened in his time, was there a reason he hadn't shared it?

Once she was satisfied that she wasn't familiar with the manor and it's residents, she tugged Sirius's arm to let him know it was time to get ready for the Side Along.

When they landed across the street from Grimmauld, just beyond its wards, she turned to her young companion.

"We're here," she whispered, as she helped hold him steady from the after effects of the apparition. As young as he was, she was sure he wasn't used to it.

His little body was heaving, and she could tell he fought hard to make sure he didn't throw up before looking up at her.

When he did, his eyes almost widened in panic.

"Don't leave!"

"What—"

But she could finally see what he saw, her skin starting to have that glow, turning it almost translucent. She heard the opening of a door followed by the quick sound of his name being called.

The next thing she saw was the ceiling to her bedroom and Harry and Draco's worried gaze.

She was gone!

Again!

Like the last time.

He remembered telling Reggie about the ghost that "helped" him beat the bad people back a long time ago. He remembered how his parents didn't believe him when he started telling them about her disappearance.

They took him aside after a while to start lecturing him that telling tales to his brother was not to be done anymore and that he needed to lay to rest his imaginary friend. Only muggles and Lovegoods spoke of things that didn't exist and neither were good associations as far as the House of was concerned.

It resulted in a big fight between him and his mother and father when they taunted him to produce his ghost until he finally stopped mentioning her.

He tried not to think about her.

Until now.

And for the second time, he was rescued again.

By a Muggleborn.

His "guardian angel."