"A friend is someone who stays in your life, despite the distance, the years, a new life."

Unknown

Hermione and Remus landed hard on a stone floor. They looked at each other, still not believing what the guardian had told them. Time travel? McGonagall had explained the conditions and limitations of time travel to Hermione. How could they be forgotten so easily. Changing the past was incredibly dangerous. Of course if Hermione could save the magical world, save her friends, her family, she would do it without hesitation, but still, it was surreal. She looked around at the alleyway she was in, nothing in her immediate surroundings showed that she was in a different time.

"Rem, do you think it worked? That we're in the past?"

"I don't know, we need to find a newspaper, there's bound to be a date. But first we have to change our appearance."

"Why?"

"Hermione, think about it, the picture has probably already been invented, no matter what time we are in, we are no longer called Remus and Hermione but Remi and Helena, no one should recognise us, even years from now. How will we transform ourselves? Polyjuice potion perhaps?"

"Barty Croupton Junior used it to take on Moody's appearance, but he had his hair on him all the time, and the vial Moody drank from. It would take a lot of organisation to manage the stock, the hair. No, we have to find something else. I have an idea, but you won't like it."

"Human transfiguration."

Hermione stared at him in surprise, how could he have guessed? Remus answered Hermione's silent question with a small smile.

"I know you Hermione, the more dangerous it is, the more you like it. Human transfiguration is the most dangerous form there is, so it's obvious. Have you ever tried it?"

"Yes, after the Battle of Hogwarts, we didn't have enough stock of polyjuice potion so I used it on a few people. But only on wizards who were willing and of age. That's mostly Neville, Ron and me. I know what we're risking Remus, but at least, once the spell is set, you don't have to touch it anymore, not like polyjuice potion where you have to take it every hour and if you want, you can go back to your true appearance. It's not permanent.

"It can become permanent if it's not done properly."

"Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do, Hermione, but I'm still allowed to have doubts. We're going to do it, but I hope for your sake that you've got it under control. I'd like to still look human when you're done."

"I'll start if it makes you feel better, but don't look at me, the transformation is pretty horrible."

Hermione turned and concentrated. Transfiguration, in addition to requiring great magical power, also required great concentration. After a few minutes she was completely transformed, Hermione Granger had disappeared to make way for Helena Grace. Or not.

"Hermione, this is all wrong!"

"What! But I was sure I did."

"No, the transformation is fine, but look at you, you look like Harry's twin sister."

Hermione took the mirror Remus held out to her and looked at herself for a moment. She had perhaps exaggerated the resemblance a little, her hair was black and mussed like her best friend's, she now had Lily's emerald green eyes and her facial features were in every way similar to Harry's. She looked at Remus with a guilty look on her face.

"Don't look at me like that, all you lacked was his scar."

"No thanks, I've got enough scars as it is. And if we succeed, no, when we succeed, Harry won't have a scar will he?"

Hermione picked up her wand again and changed her facial features and the colour of her eyes. They were blue like the sea, so similar to Ron's. Helena Potter had become Helena Grace. Hermione then took care of Remus who had become dark blonde with black eyes.

"Satisfied?"

"Very much so. Thank you for removing the big scars."

"I thought it would be better if we didn't turn up with scars all over our bodies, let alone our faces. I couldn't get it all off, we have too many."

Remus understood the implication Hermione was making. Her scars were much more noticeable. They must have had as many as each other. Remus was older, but he had never been tortured for long hours. His most obvious scars were the ones he made during the full moon. Hermione's scars were far more fragile, far more filled with memories, nightmares. He knew about the mudblood that Bellatrix Lestrange had given her on her arm. She had a scar that ran from her right shoulder to her left hip. Hermione had never wanted to tell him how she got the scar, but even after years it was still blistered and red. The third and largest was on the back of her neck. Bellatrix, in a fit of madness, of which only she was capable, had carved a snake into the back of Hermione's neck, the day she had freed prisoners in Lestrange Manor, with Ron and Neville. If her two friends hadn't reacted in time, she would have died there. This wound was the most painful, like Harry's scar, this snake was connected to Bellatrix's emotions, especially her anger. She had been lucky, she thought, that the Death Eater had carved that infamy into the back of her neck, which she could hide with her hair, not like the mudblood on her arm. She had tried everything, spells, potions, herbs, even make-up, but nothing helped, that scar continued to exist, shiny, bloody. She didn't have to think about it, otherwise her arm would bleed continuously.

"Hermione, Hermione."

Remus snapped the young woman out of her thoughts, and indicated that it might be time for them to get out of this alley and go and gather information. Hermione nodded and followed Remus. They came to a larger street, which they knew well.

"Rem' across the street is-"

"The Leaky Cauldron, yes."

"Do you think we're really in the past? It looks so much like the one I know."

"What did you expect? Living in black and white with horse-drawn carriages everywhere? Hermione, come on. If you look closely, the paint on the front seems more recent, less chipped."

They crossed the street and entered the bar. One thing hadn't changed, it was as dirty as ever. Hermione spotted the barman, Tom. How long had he been there? She didn't feel much sympathy for him, but couldn't explain why. It all came back to her suddenly, and she couldn't hold back the "traitor" that escaped her lips.

"Mione, don't make a fuss."

"But Rem, he betrayed us."

"We'll talk about that later."

Remus paused abruptly, he had just seen something that troubled him deeply. Hermione called out to him, shaking him, but he didn't answer, too focused on what he had just seen.

"Rem' wake up, we're in the middle of the cross-country road, we can't stay like this."

"I know what year it is"

"Wait, what? But how?"

"I've seen them, but how could she send me there, all eras were good, why this one in particular?"

Remus turned to Hermione, his face serious.

"It's 1977. It must be summer, the summer before my last year at Hogwarts."

"You've seen James and Sirius haven't you? Harry told me that Sirius had left the Black house to go to his father's house."

Hermione left Remus for a few minutes while she went to buy the day's paper.

"Hogwarts has quite a sense of humour. It's the thirty-first of July. Four years before Harry was born."

"Hermione, not in the middle of the street, someone might hear us. I hope we can rent two rooms at the Cauldron, we need somewhere quiet where we can talk seriously and think."

Remus turned around and went to the barman to rent two rooms. Luckily his and Hermione's were next door to each other, so they could talk more easily. They both sat down on Remus' bed and for the first time all day, took in everything that had happened. Their journey through the dome, the discovery of Hogsmeade, Snape's corpse, the meeting with Hel Hogwarts, the story of the life of the founders, who were actually five, the discovery of the ring, the third Jewel of Time, the time clock, learning that they were also the Hogwarts Chosen and that they were going to travel through time, to do this time travel. To learn about their time. All this in less than a day, even after all they had been through, was a lot. Too much.

"What did she mean when she mentioned your other rings?"

Remus had spoken, he was exhausted but the question was still on his mind and he couldn't forget the conversation. Hermione sighed and with a flick of her wand, two rings appeared. Remus looked at them and recognised them at once. These rings had been on the fingers of his best friends' fathers for many years, but that didn't explain how Hermione had come to possess them.

"You have the Potter and Black signet rings? But how?"

"Harry left them to me. He went to Gringotts and saw this ring with his family crest and asked Sirius what it was. Sirius showed him his, which he had got when his father died, because Regulus had died. When Sirius died, Harry got it back. He didn't want to risk losing one of them, so ironically he gave me the Black one. I, the most sought-after mudblood in the land, wore the family crest, and she was more obsessed with purebloods. When Bellatrix Lestrange, Hermione shuddered as she said her name, tortured me, she had no idea I was wearing her family crest. I got the Potters' back, before the Great Battle. Harry thought he was going to die and he gave it to me rather than have it rotting on his corpse, in his own words. So I hid them in plain sight, locked them away inside me. It's old magic."

Two days had passed since Hermione and Remus had landed in the past. They had both slept for long hours, complete with nightmares. They had also talked a lot, desperately looking for someone to entrust the time bracelet to. They disagreed about the priorities of this jewel.

"No, Rem', it's out of the question. As long as I'm alive, you're not entrusting Dumbledore with the jewel."

"But why not? He's a great wizard and-"

"A great wizard? He defeated Grindelwald and he's clever. He helped you when you were young. That's all you see. Why is everyone so blinded by him? Can't you see the bad side of him? He manipulates everyone, to get what he wants. He put Harry in the Dursley house without first finding out what Lily and James would want. They hated magic. They treated Harry badly, he was never happy there. Who cared? Probably not him. The only person who cared about what was going on there was Sirius, and there was nothing he could do about it. He let Harry fight Quirell and by extension Voldemort, he let him fight a basilisk. He let us save Sirius, with the only indication that three hours would be enough! He let Harry participate in the Three Wizards Tournament. And when Cedric died, he sent him back to the Dursleys, more alone than ever, when all he needed was to be with Sirius, with his friends! He let Snape teach him occlumency when it was obvious that he couldn't get past his hatred for James and through him, Harry. Sirius died because of it. It wasn't until his godfather died that he discovered the weight that was on his shoulders. At almost sixteen. And to top it all off, he sent us on a suicide mission to find bits of Voldemort's soul, with no clues! Look how well that worked! Harry's dead, everyone's dead and we have to go back twenty years to make up for his mistakes!

Hermione finished her tirade breathlessly, tears streaming down her cheeks. For the first time in a long time, they were not tears of sadness, but tears of anger.

"Hermione, this is not Dumbledore's fault, Sirius, it's Bellatrix's fault."

"It was Bellatrix who killed him. But if he had taught the Occlumency classes himself, it would have helped a lot. Of course Harry could have practiced more, I should have rebelled after Cedric's death to visit Harry. We all have our faults. You weren't there when Lily and James died, I assume you didn't know about it until much later."

"Ten days."

"I'm sorry?"

"I didn't find out until ten days later, from the Daily Prophet."

"Then it's worse than I thought. You worship him while he hid the deaths of your best friends, the imprisonment of Sirius and the 'death' of Pettigrew! Sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that. I should have controlled myself and not got carried away. But I just can't trust Dumbledore with my life."

"I don't worship Albus, don't exaggerate. Who do you want to give it to? We can't trust the jewel to a marauder or Lily, they're too young and we don't know many adults who would risk their lives for us, strangers."

Hermione knew he was right, even if she held back from admitting it to herself. Who would be willing to risk their life for strangers? This supposed person would have to be willing to receive them. Hermione suddenly had an epiphany, she knew someone who could help them. All it would take was a bit of cunning.

"I sign, Helena Grace and Remi Lucas and that's it."

Hermione handed the letter to the owl who was in charge of the mail and told him the recipient and the address of the letter.

"We'll just have to wait for his reply now."

The reply came five hours later, much to the surprise of the two time travellers. Knowing the person, they rather thought that she would wait a few days before giving her answer. Well, they weren't going to complain about it. The bracelet, even if they alternated wearing it, took a lot of their energy.

"She agrees, she's waiting for us at the Three Broomsticks."

"A more discreet place would have been better."

"I know that, but we're not going to tell her all this there. We'll go to her house, or her office."

The two wizards took their things and moved to Hogsmeade. They entered the bar and made their way to their interlocutor's table. Seeing them walking towards her, although she did not know them, she greeted them.

"Miss Grace, and Mr Lucas I presume."

"Professor McGonagall," they replied, automatically.

"Please, call me Minerva."

"In that case, call us Remi and Helena."

"So you're friends of Dougal's? I was very surprised by your request. Nothing's happened to him, I hope."

"No, don't worry, Minerva, he's fine. To be perfectly frank with you. Dougal McGregor was just an excuse to talk to you. You don't know me, but I know you, I know you very well indeed. We're not in a cult or anything, but we have a favour to ask of you, a very important favour."

"What kind of service?"

"We can't tell you here. Do you know of a deserted place where we can be quiet?"

"But come on, young people, whoever you are, I'm not going to bring strangers into my home."

"We are not asking you to take you home, but a secluded place should suffice. We can give you our wands if you wish. "

Remus took out his wand and Hermione did the same with hers and Harry's, which she used much more often. Minerva picked up the wands and moved the two wizards to a small meadow.

"Right, now you're going to explain everything to me. Why do you have the wand of one of my students, and who the hell are you?"

"In truth, my name is Hermione Granger. I was born on the nineteenth of September."

Hermione looked down and took a deep breath to give herself some courage.

"1979."

"Excuse me?"

"She's telling the truth. As far as I'm concerned, this wand is also mine. I am Remus Lupin, a little older than the one you know."

"That's impossible, how could you..."

"In our time, war is raging. The Death Eaters have taken over."

"The Death Eaters, that little group of rebels?"

"They are much more than rebels. Voldemort is a true fanatic, we are from 2002. We are the last two survivors of the light. All our friends, family, classmates, teachers have been killed. Most of them brutally. Please, you have to believe us."

"Who killed me. And when? Why did you do it?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange at the Battle of Hogwarts, May the second, 1998. Voldemort had just announced that Harry was dead. You tried to get close and she killed you. With avada kedavra. At least you didn't suffer. We'll tell you everything from the beginning. It will take a little while. Some of it may be, well, hard to hear."

Hermione began her story, leaving out as few details as possible, Remus taking over when the moments became too difficult and the memories too painful for Hermione. The story went on for three hours. Three hours of memories, tears, pain. The story was coming to an end and Minerva was not at the end of her surprises. Hermione told the story of the Fifth Elder and then of their arrival in the past.

"I am deeply sorry for everything that has happened to both of you. But I don't see what I can do for you at all."

"I explained to you that there are three pieces of Jewels of Time. The ring, which I keep, the necklace, which Remus wears and the bracelet. Hel Hogwarts explained to us that these jewels are very powerful, very dangerous too. We can't take them off, but wearing two of them could finish us off quickly. That's why we need you. To wear this jewel. We will understand perfectly if you do not accept. This is sheer madness. But you are our only hope. No one else can do the job. I know that although you don't like working there, you are still loyal to the ministry. We are the most outlawed people in the magical world. I, for one, have killed more people than the current Death Eaters, I've broken a lot of magical secrecy laws, very ancient laws. We'll let you think about it, but please, we'll need an answer in two days at the most.

"How did you know so much about me, about my life? I never tell anyone about Dougal."

"In my sixth year I used to come to your office regularly for tea," Remus laughed mockingly, but quickly recovered when he saw the dark look on Hermione's face, "and you told me a lot of things. I wasn't doing very well at the time, if I had known what I was getting into, and you told me that story, to tell me that nothing was lost because... No, I can't tell you your future."

"Hermione, you've just told her about her death and the deaths of everyone she knows."

"Yes, but that could still potentially happen. Minerva, we'll leave you to think about it."

Hermione turned, ready to leave, when Minerva called out to her. She didn't seem too sure what she was going to say, but spoke anyway.

"Despite everything you've told me Hermione, I don't really know you, but I know that I don't give my trust easily, least of all to teenagers. But I know that if I've told you all this, it's because you deserve it, that you're worthy. So I may regret it, but you have touched me. I accept it."