Harry and Hermione made their way down to Hagrid's hut, Harry distantly noted the grounds looked like they were covered in fog but strangely he didn't care.

Upon reaching the hut Harry knocked and listened to Fang barking inside as Hagrid tried to get to the door, after politely accepting his tea and declining rock cakes they started chatting.

Eventually Hermione asked "So Hagrid, what exactly do you do as the keeper of keys and grounds?"

"Ah, well Hermione, I shouldn' be tellin' yeh students really... But I guess yeh two can be trusted! While I hold the keys, the wards around Hogwarts remain active, fer a little bit o' magic from me all yeh lot in the castle are safe. It's not as if I'm usin' tha' magic anyway.

"The keys also keep me informed o' whenever anyone enters or leaves the wards an' in times o' emergency I can even tell the wards to lock down, it's a big job but nothin' I can't handle."

"So what would happen if someone stole the keys off you Hagrid?" Harry asked curiously.

"If they were stolen whoever held 'em would be able to control the wards, there are some quite nasty wards tha' haven't been activated fer centuries but they could be raised at a moment's notice. O' course Dumbledore has a master key on him so he would be able to stop the thief before any harm could be done."

Hagrid paused then proudly added "O' course they would still have to get through me! In me youth I wrestled with professional muggles durin' my summers an' none o' 'em were ever able to beat me"

"So is Keeper of grounds the same thing, Hagrid?" Hermione asked after a short pause.

"Not exactly Hermione, as keeper o' the grounds I have to ensure all the animals an' creatures around Hogwarts are behavin' 'emselves. I reckon I know more about the grounds an' forest than any other!" Hagrid said proudly, from anyone else it would've sounded boastful, but Harry knew Hagrid was just being honest. It wasn't in the man's nature to boast or exaggerate.

"What type of creatures?" Hermione knew of some as they were mentioned in Hogwarts: A History, but figured Hagrid might supply her with some more knowledge of Hogwarts.

"Well yeh have the centaurs, acromantula, the magia lupus pack, I've got a hippogriff herd, a nest o' bowtruckles and unicorns" Hagrid said, counting them off as he went "Then durin' sprin' we normally see some redcaps, an' in summer fairies an' pixies an' the like. That's only the magical land dwellin' creatures! The forest is also filled with muggle animals tha' have been enhanced by the magic o' the forest itself an' o' course lake is filled with all sorts o' creatures."

"What do you mean magia lupus packs? I thought it was just a myth that werewolves lived in the forest!" Hermione said fearfully

"Ahh but see they ain't normal werewolves Hermione, not really. They're either wolves tha' are the offsprin' o' a turned werewolf an' a natural wolf or naturally born offsprin' o' two werewolves. While they do transform every full moon, they keep their mind unlike normal werewolves see.

"An' they are no more a danger to humans than any other wolf, o' course they stay far away from Hogwarts jus' in case an' the centaurs an' unicorns often help keep 'em at away. I'll tell ya, if it weren't fer the centaurs my job would be nearly impossible. Dead helpful they are, always make sure to warn me whenever anythin' big is comin' an' regularly patrol the forest to ensure everythin' is as it should be."

"Is Fluffy from the forest Hagrid?" Harry had thought of Fluffy regularly, it was hard not to when he knew the giant cerberus could tear him to shreds if he managed to escape

"How do yeh know about Fluffy!" Hagrid asked shocked, nearly dropping his cup of tea

"Dumbledore showed me him on the first night" Harry said worriedly, Dumbledore had told him it was okay to talk about it but now he thought he had said something wrong

"Who's Fluffy?" Hermione said utterly confused

"He's mine, I've had him since he was a pup, but Dumbledore had no right showin' him to someone as small as yerself Harry, Fluffy means well but he can be a bit boisterous an' fer someone yer size he could do a lot o' damage!"

"I was with Dumbledore, Hagrid, he wouldn't have let me get hurt. I think Dumbledore assumed I would try to sneak in when I was exploring the castle and he didn't want me to get myself killed." Harry said timidly

"Well yeh should put it outta mind Harry, what's goin' on up there is between Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel! Nothin' yeh need to worry yerself over."

"Hagrid believe me, if both you and Dumbledore tell me something is dangerous, I'm going to stay as far away as possible."

"Well tha''s good, if yer father an' his friends were here they would've tried to get in durin' their first week! In fact they often got caught tryin' to get into the wompin' willow when they first got here, James almost lost an eye tryin' to get in one night an' I think tha' made 'em back off."

The rest of their evening was spent with Hagrid telling them stories of the trouble Harry's father and his friends got into, it started to get dark when Hagrid said "Come on yeh two, out with yeh, it won't do any o' us any good if yeh got caught out on the grounds after dark. I'll see yeh two tomorrow."

Leaving the hut Harry and Hermione made their way back to Hogwarts, Harry noted that Hogwarts was also covered in fog and he was unable to see through it, Hermione turned to him and said "This is where we part Harry"

"No I don't want to leave you!"
"You must, where I am going is not for the living, don't worry, we will see each other again won't we? This is just goodbye for now"

"I… I don't think I can cope without you… I'll bring you back! Magic must be able to bring back the dead!"

"Nobody can bring back the dead Harry" she said sadly

Harry reached forwards and pulled Hermione into a hug "I love you"

The grounds faded to white and Harry faintly heard "I love you too, Harry, I'll be waiting for you, but I have all the time in the world to wait."

"HERMIONE!" Harry cried jerking upright in the bed, Harry looked around frantically trying to find Hermione before the events from the last night caught up with him, he looked around and noticed Dumbledore sitting next to his bed, a sorrowful expression on his face as he studied Harry

"Harry, I am so very sorry, Miss Granger was a brilliant witch who did not deserve such a fate at such a young age, I know how it feels to lose someone so close to you so early in life." Dumbledore would not meet Harry's eyes as he said this and Harry pretended he did not see the headmaster's eyes watering.

Looking down at his lap Harry asked "Do you know professor or are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

Dumbledore sighed deeply "I believe you ought to hear my story, but I would deeply appreciate it if you keep what I'm about to tell you to yourself, when I was young, a few years older than yourself in fact, my sister was killed, my sister was mentally unwell and was unable to defend herself so it fell to me and my brother to care for her, unfortunately one day one of my friends was over and he got in a… disagreement with my brother, wands were drawn and both started shooting off spells, I was unsure who to support so decided it best to stop both of them, my brother has always been nearly as powerful as myself in raw power and my friend was equally powerful and even back then knew more spells than know even now… my sister saw the fighting and tried to stop it, where upon a rouge spell hit her… to this day I am unsure who cast the spell that ended her life and I feel it is unimportant, it was my fault for letting my friend near my sister when I should have protected her, my friend fled England and me and my brother never spoke again."

"Oh… I'm sorry sir" Harry said bashfully

"What's done is done Harry… but my biggest regret had always been not just that I let my sister die, but that I never spent the time to get to know her, I fear I envied her for having a quiet life that I never got to experience… I still which I had just a little more time to see her… so I have an offer to you… I would have given anything to see Ariana one last time and so I am asking would you want to see Miss Granger one last time, Harry?"

Shocked at the offer Harry could only nod, Dumbledore reached down the neck of his robes and withdrew a gold necklace with a weird circular device on the end

"This Harry is a time turner and it allows the witch or wizard wearing it to go back a few hours into the past as such we are a bit short on time but there should be time enough, due to the nature of time travel my requirements for this is that you allow me to place a charm on you that will stop you going more than ten feet from me."

Harry nodded once more, at a loss for words.

Dumbledore withdrew his wand and Harry became aware of a slight tingling from his magic, delving into his mage sight he saw that Dumbledore's wand was completely unique, all the other wands Harry had seen kept the colour of their wood and core, as such every wand was unique but Harry could subconsciously tell that the wands colour was different to that of its wielder, Dumbledore's wand however did not seem to actually possess its own colour, Harry could tell that this dark indigo was actually the colour of Dumbledore's magic rather than the wands, this confused Harry deeply as only his mithril reflected his own true magic.

Realising that Dumbledore had been casting a spell as he got lost in his thoughts he pulled himself back to reality as he felt Dumbledore's magic settle over him like a heavy blanket, Harry knew instinctively that it would be impossible for him to shrug it off by himself, looking at the magic it was still the dark grey of masked magic, Dumbledore then put the gold chain over Harry's neck and spun it five times, Harry felt the room spin around him and instinctively activated his mage sight, almost immediately he forced his eyes shut, but not before he caught sight of the kaleidoscope of colour, most prominent was pure gold which Harry had never seen before, he did not even realise that the colours of magic could glitter.

When Harry felt the room stop spinning he opened his eyes to see he was still in the hospital wing, Dumbledore removed the gold chain from his neck and tucked it back into an inside pocket of his robes

"Where to first Harry?" he asked kindly

"You're asking me?"

"This trip is for your benefit not mine, as such I will go where you want to go"

"Gryffindor tower then I guess"

Dumbledore bowed his head and set off, Harry thought he knew Hogwarts quite well but after Dumbledore led him through a secret passage that appeared to be a solid wall with no special magic Harry resigned himself to realise he would never discover all of Hogwarts mysteries. Arriving at the Gryffindor portrait Dumbledore waved his wand over their heads and Harry suddenly felt as if someone had cracked an egg over him, looking down he noticed his body had become invisible, looking at Dumbledore he was surprised that he could still clearly see the headmaster and from the way he was grinning back he could see him too

"If you wouldn't mind placing one of your notice-me-nots over us I would very much appreciate it Harry"

After he had been applied the charm Harry asked "Why do we need the notice me not if we are already invisible, Sir?"

"Ahh, well as you will know the notice me not can be defeated by someone actively looking for something, while the disillusionment charm can be defeated by somebody noticing us, while I hope that nobody will be able to see through my disillusionment charm I want to decrease the chances of us being found as much as possible, by layering a notice me not over the disillusion charm it becomes much harder for us to be found even if someone is actively looking for us as they do not notice any imperfections in the disillusion."

Clad under a spell of pure invisibility and charmed to be unnoticed Harry and Albus watched Hermione go about her day, through it all Harry felt only numb, together they watched as past Harry led Hermione through the corridors with the troll following close behind, Harry wanted to intervene but knew he couldn't. When his past self stopped on the staircase Dumbledore gently reached out and set his hand on Harry's shoulder, watching his best friend die was just as hard the second time but now he felt he understood better.

He watched as past Harry crumpled and past Dumbledore gently picked him up and carried him away, present Dumbledore then led Harry away to his office, entering Harry looked over the office with interest, most notable was the phoenix by the door which flew from its perch to land on Harry's shoulder, absentmindedly stroking it Harry looked at the various enchanted objects on Dumbledore's shelves and smiled when he saw the little mithril sculpture of Dumbledore's head that he had made only three months ago.

When he sat down the phoenix hopped from his shoulder to lap and let Harry resume stroking it, Dumbledore sat down next to Harry and said "That's Fawkes, as you may have guessed he is a phoenix… Is there anything you would like to talk about Harry? Anything at all?"

"Why was there a troll in the school Sir?"

Dumbledore sighed deeply and seemed to age before Harry's eyes "I cannot say for sure, the troll could have simply wandered in although I doubt it, no I suspect the troll was let in Hogwarts deliberately, deep underneath the third floor corridor is an object that Voldemort would do anything to obtain, I set it here as a trap and a test to find out if Voldemort is in fact still alive and what lengths he would go. Never did I think he would dare endanger the students… all he has done is reveal he is here without gaining anything, that is most unusual for him."

"First he takes my parents, now he takes my best friend… I think I've had dreams about him too… What is this object he's after Sir?" Harry had a very dark look as he said this and Dumbledore felt he had made another Tom Riddle, nevertheless he answered the boy who had lost so much despite Dumbledore's promise of safety feeling the boy deserved some answers

"The Philosopher's Stone, in my youth after I finished Hogwarts I trained under a famous alchemist and philosopher named Nicolas Flamel, it is he who made the Philosopher's Stone which holds the power to grant immortality and wealth to all those who possess it, back when Voldemort was a child I think he feared death above all else, even his name means 'to fly from death' and as such it is my belief he would do anything to achieve immortality."

"If the Stone was not here at Hogwarts would he have let the troll in?"

"No… if the Stone was not at Hogwarts Voldemort would have had no reason to let the troll in…"

Harry stood angrily and began pacing the office, his magic swirled around him picking up paper and parchment and throwing it around, Harry seemed to be struggling with some internal argument that Albus dared not interfere with, he knew that if Harry now hated him he would be unable to guide him later in his life yet also realised that ultimately he had indirectly helped lead Miss Granger to her death by taking Voldemort for granted.

"If the Stone was not at Hogwarts would Voldemort have still tried to claim it?"

"On the 31st of July I had Hagrid retrieve the Stone from Gringotts after I received an urgent letter from Nicolas saying that somebody had broken into his house without triggering any wards and the only thing taken was the spare key to the vault. Later that day Gringotts reported that someone broke into that vault without triggering any of their wards either. There is only one wizard I know of who would be capable of doing such a feat and that is Voldemort, if I had not sent Hagrid I fear Voldemort would have gotten the Stone that day as Nicolas was unable to get to Gringotts."

"And Voldemort hated Muggleborns like Hermione didn't he? So if he had gotten the Stone Hermione would have been in danger anyway…"

"I would not say he hates Muggleborns… I would not even say he truly hates Muggles, he certainly fears Muggles and what they are capable of but he only claimed to hate Muggleborns to get his followers on his side, it should be noted that his followers were often the most influential and wealthiest Purebloods, thus allowing him to attempt to control Britain with far less opposition than if he had gotten the Muggleborns on his side. Regardless of his feelings though every witch and wizard in Britain would most certainly be in danger regardless of their blood status."

"Is the Stone safe here?"

"Yes, it is behind fairly rudimentary traps that require a long time to complete so that hopefully I will have enough time to lock down the floor before Voldemort can leave, the Stone itself is behind a very creative ward scheme that Voldemort could never get through. For safety reasons you will have to understand that I won't be revealing what it is."

Harry nodded curtly and sat back down and resumed stroking Fawkes, he mulled over his words for a bit and Dumbledore let him think in silence "I guess Hermione's death was not your fault, the blame lays with the troll and Voldemort for letting it in… but I do want you to know, Professor, that because of the game you and Voldemort are playing my best friend died and I will never forget that."

"It is not often I admit this but I am human and as such make mistakes just like any other, however I am vain enough to admit that when I make mistakes the consequences are often far greater than another's… Ariana being one such mistake... that's why I keep Sherbet Lemons on my desk, it was her favourite sweet and I only learned it after she had died… I like to believe that seeing them every day keeps me from making such mistakes again… evidently I had grown lax..."

"She had just made a ring" Harry said quietly after another moments pause

"Harry?" Dumbledore said curiously raising an eyebrow

"I was teaching her to make mithril and she had finally managed to make a small ring… she was so proud of herself…"

Dumbledore let his thoughts wander, not wanting to think about Ariana or Hermione… he turned his thoughts to rings and remembered that strange ring Tom had gotten in his sixth year and the memory he had much later gotten before Morfin Gaunt's untimely death at Azkaban… that ring had possessed a faint magical call to it… not that dissimilar to the elder wands call now that he thought on it… Sitting up straight Dumbledore realised what he should have known all along, the Lords ring for the house of Gaunt was one of the Hallows, almost defiantly the Resurrection Stone.

Well guess who got sick and almost forgot to post a chapter...

I feel I need to add that Harry won't be dealing with his grief in a healthy way, he is an eleven year old boy who grew up depending on only himself, he began confiding in Hermione only for her to die meaning that Harry is hurt even more, Dumbledore kind of recognised this, which is why he took Harry back in time, it should be noted that in this Dumbledore doesn't deal with grief very well either in both cannon and this story, as such he doesn't know how to help Harry and is doing what he wanted others to do for him when he was younger.

Also the first "scene" with Hagrid is sort of a dream sort of a memory and what was said may or may not be considered story cannon and used in future chapters depending on if I remember to use it, chapter title is in no way related to a popular time traveling show episode which dealt with death and loss.