CH 2- Coming to terms

Hermiones POV...

Okay, get yourself together, you are Hermione frickin Granger.. so what if you made a little.. well, huge.. mistake. You didnt do it on purpose. It slipped. It could have happened to anyone. They wont expel you for this. Oh for gods sake, is that what you are worried about right now? You are back by who knows how many years without any means of returning to the present! Well, like mum always says.. there is no point worrying about things that arent in your control. Well if I actually heeded that advice life would have been much simpler now wouldnt it. Okay, I have got to focus. So what is this place anyway? Looks like a countryside of sorts. I walk around a little.. now that I am more aware of my surroundings I notice how beautiful this place is. There are trees and flowers and a flowing river. The smell in the air is fruity and the wind is pleasantly cool. Its the sort of place I would normally love to read a book in, or maybe just sit with friends. I remember with a pang.. Harry and Ron. Theyll probably be worried when they find out. Will Dumbledore tell them? (I am sure Snapes told Dumbledore). He usually doesnt lie unless its for your own good, but surely no good can come out of keeping them in the dark about this. I have kindof felt guilty all year hiding and lying to them. Maybe after this whole thing, I will finally be free. I take a sharp intake of breath.. did I just say I would be free? Do I feel like all this is too much for me? Surely that cant be.. I have always wanted to learn above anything else, I was the one who chose all subjects, and I should be grateful for the opportunity! Am I-

I was forced to tear away from my thoughts as I saw a little girl beyond the creek. She was rather pretty with red hair, wearing a frock which swished around her knees as she turned this way and that. She seemed to be searching or maybe hiding from someone. I was transfixed on the spot and forgot all about the rule of not being seen by people when I am in the past. How many times had I gone over it with Mcgonagal. But before I could come to my senses, the girl had seen me. I made to walk away quickly without arousing suspicion.

"Hey. Do you live around here?", she asked with a kind smile on her face

I had no way out, it would look weird if I ran. Maybe it wouldnt do much harm to just have a short conversation.

"Yeah I am from around. I actually should get going now, my mom is expecting me at home"

"Oh okay", the girl looked a bit crest-fallen

Hermione felt bad and added, "But I will see you around? Whats your name?"

"I am Lily Evans.. you are?"

"Penelope Clearwater", what can I say, thats the first name that came to my mind. I think she is in Ravenclaw, anyway doesnt matter right now. Lily.. isnt that Harrys mums name?

"Lily you better not be with that freak boy again! Where are you?", a loud voice of a girl floated through the air like lightning through water. "Tuney Im here"

"Whos this?", the girl stopped short as she came into the field of view. She was a bit taller than Lily, with dark hair in a ponytail and chocolate brown eyes just like mine. She was wearing a frock too with a color less dull than Lilys, but somehow more classic.. more elegant. Their faces were a lot similar but Tuneys had a little rough features unlike the soft and kind ones of Lily.

"This is Penelope. Not one of my "freak" friends", she said rolling her eyes. Hermione was starting to like Tuney less by the manner in which she used the word freak and more so by the frown of disdain on her face. "She lives around here"

Tuney relaxed a bit at this and came forward to meet me. "Hi, I am Petunia. Her sister"

"Nice to meet you Petunia", I tried to muster up some enthusiasm as I was starting to get scared inside.. I should not be meeting so many people.

"Mums making some apple pie today, if you wanna come.. I am sure she wont mind", Tuney said off-handedly

"I would love to, but I have to be home now. Sorry", I was starting to panic again. As if on cue, it started raining and we finally parted ways. I had no idea where to go once I was out of sight of the girls. It was getting cold and I was starting to shiver. As I splashed in my shoes through the muddy path, out of the corner of my eye I saw a street sign. I took a step back and read "Spinners End". I had never heard of that place. That reminds me I should find a newspaper and look at the date. Having absolutely no idea which way would lead me into the city, I started walking in a random direction. Suddenly I felt a warm brush against my ankles. I looked down and I could have recognised that rat from anywhere.. it was scabbers!

Snapes POV...

This cant be good. Ministers dont just show up at Hogwarts, they must have known a student went missing from Hogwarts. Hopefully they didnt have means of knowing how. Cornelius Fudge strode in, in all his glory

"Dumbledore, I will get straight to the point as this is a matter of utmost importance and rather grave if I may say. A miss Hermione Granger has gone missing from Hogwarts about 7 minutes ago. Do you happen to know anything about that?"

Lockhart piped up, "Oh but she was in my DADA class just minutes ago. Must have gone to grab my book to get my autograph, I must say she was rather taken by my teaching style"

"Shes out of Hogwarts you idiot!", I thundered. Dumbledore sensing that I might let something slip if this pompous git kept opening his mouth, dismissed him. He didnt go easy though, kept saying he knew just the spell that he had used to help find a lot of missing people in the villages of Bibury.

"Hes a bit not right in the head is he? Interesting staff choice Dumbledore", Fudge chuckled at his own joke, if you could call it that.

Dumbledore seemed unfazed at the comment and stopped pacing to face the minister. "Cornelius, as it happens.. there has been a little accident. Miss Granger let slip the time turner and it broke and took her back to a time unknown"

Fudge stood there mouth opening and closing like of a fish for air. The shocked look quickly morphed into a worried and then an angry one. "Albus, I knew it wasnt wise to give the girl a freakin time turner. Do you realise what this means? History could change! If this got out in public, I will be mocked for my foolishness.. I let this happen! It happened under my ministry. I gave approval for this"

"You did not give approval for a broken time turner Fudge. But as it so happens I agree about keeping this from the public ears. It is best we do not cause nation-wide, or maybe even world-wide, panic until we have solved this problem"

"SOLVE THIS PROBLEM? HOW IN MERLINS NAME ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO THAT!? This is all your fault Dumbledore! She is the most intelligent witch of her age.. an exception should be made for the sake of her education.. "

"Please stay calm minister. This issue hurts me as much as it does you. I wont be more popular than you for this. But whats happened has happened.. in fact it had already happened years ago. We need to focus on finding a solution. I daresay, there is a department of mysteries in the ministry, minister?", Albus said with a wink..

I gotta say, Dumbledore never loses his style no matter the situation, though sometimes it is irritating.

Helloo guyss. How you all doing? Tell me if you liked this chapter by reviewsss. Also I made a little mistake.. Lockhart wasnt supposed to be here, so we will pretend Hermione got the time turner in her second year instead of third. This is my first time writing a multi-chapter fic and I am having a little trouble but I am trying my best. I have few ideas in mind, mostly I just let the story flow on its own. Take care until next time 3