Time Turners
Harry yanked Hermione into an alcove and she realized that even Harry was even gentler about manhandling her than Ronald was. She stared at him, eyes wide. “Yes, Harry?”
“Do you remember the map that I had? The one that Fred and George gave me?” Hermione nodded, and Harry looked around, whispering. “I had it the other night and I saw…I saw Peter Petigrew on it. He was wandering the castle. I went to investigate and he was gone. Lupin has the map now because Snape caught me but…I just can’t stop thinking about it. He’s supposed to–”
“He’s supposed to be dead, Harry. That’s impossible.”
“That’s what I said.” Hermione furrowed her brows, and Harry pulled her softly from the alcove. “I told Lupin that I think it’s broken. It’s impossible that he was there…isn’t it? Sirius killed him, McGonagall said that there was nothing left of him but his finger.”
Hermione shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense, Harry. Something doesn’t make sense…”
“That’s what I said.”
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“She said that my heart was as shriveled as a maids! And that my soul was as–” She stopped turning toward them. “My soul was as dry as the books that I cleave!”
“What did you do after that?” Draco was smirking at her and Theo was sitting quietly beside her, smiling.
“I shoved the damn ball off of the table and left.” She huffed, placing her hands on her hips. “Maybe Ronald was right, maybe I have gone mental and it’s just out there in the open for everybody to see now.”
“What? He said that? He called you mental?”
“No, well yes. He said it to Harry when I was crying in the alcove. I overheard it.” Theo looked like he was going to say something and Hermione cut him off. “I was crying because I was rather embarrassed by my outburst, not because of him calling me mental. Honestly, I have felt a little mental lately.”
“Did Harry defend you?” Draco asked rather calmly and she stilled.
“Well, no. He was bringing the ball back to Trelawney. Ron stayed in the stairwell and wound up waiting for him. I left before he met back up with him so I’m not sure.” Draco and Theo shared a look again and Hermione shrieked, pointing to them. “No. Nope. Stop doing that!”
“Doing what?”
“Giving each other that..that look. It’s suspicious.”
“Suspicious?”
“Yes.” Hermione nodded, glaring at them. Draco snorted and Theo just grinned at her. She was realizing that she rather enjoyed seeing Theo smile. It was something that seemed to warm her heart every time. Hermione’s eyes widened and she yanked her sweater off the back of the chair behind Draco. He feigned offense and she rolled her eyes at him. “I have to go. Harry and I told Hagrid that we would be there for him today. Buckbeak is getting executed.” She threw a glare at Draco who’s eyes widened.
“Granger! I promise I tried to talk my dad out of it. He wouldn’t budge.” Hermione rolled her eyes and shrugged her pink sweater on. Huffing she brushed past them. Faintly, she heard Draco behind her whisper and the sound of him grunting as Theo punched him. “I think that I quite like Muggle jeans, Theo.”
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“We can stay with you too, Hagrid.”
“No, you will not. The last thing that I want is for you all to see something like that. Drink your tea and be off.”
Hermione huffed, sitting down at the table. Hagrid had all sorts of monsters and creatures in his house. There was a strange snail-like thing in the corner, birds were flying around and Fang was napping on the bed. Hermione wondered for a moment how the largest man on the grounds had the smallest living quarters. She had just finished off her tea when Hagrid sat up suddenly, making his way across the room.
“I almost forgot!” Hermione watched as Hagrid wrangled a rat out of a tin box on his counter. She raised an eyebrow at Ron. “You ought to keep better track of your pets.”
Hermione laughed remembering that was the exact sentiment that he had told Ronald earlier when he had accused Crookshanks of being a murderer. Ron glared at her. “I believe that you owe somebody an apology, Ronald.”
He sneered at her and for a moment she wondered why he hated Draco when he had perfected a sneer worthy of hanging in the Malfoy Manor. “Right, remind me the next time that I see Crookshanks.”
Hermione glared at him, but as she opened her mouth a vase shattered behind her. She whirled around, staring at the food that had poured out onto the table. Harry was sitting next to the window and her eyes flitted up right in time to see another pebble fly through the window, hitting him in the back of the head. Walking closer, her eyes widened when she saw Dumbledore, the Minister and Executioner making their way to Hagrid’s hut.
Hermione grabbed Harry’s hand, yanking him towards the back door. Ron followed after and they slipped through, running to hide behind a batch of pumpkins just as they made their way through the front door. The sound of a twig breaking had her whirling around. “What?”
“Nothing…we need to get out of here before they come outside.” They ran up the hill back towards the castle, and watched as the Executioner made his way outside. The massive Kubikiribocho shined as the Executioner lifted it above his head. Hermione turned, tucking herself against Harry’s chest as tears streamed down her face. Ron had tucked himself in right behind her, his hand against her back and she stiffened. Suddenly, he was pulling away yelling Scabbers name as he took off down the hill.
“Ron!” Harry ran after him, and Hermione rolled her eyes, running behind him. Idiot. But at least he was taking care of his pets seriously now. Hermione looked up and stopped, slamming into the back of Harry, his arm reaching around to steady her.
The Whomping Willow sat behind Ron, who was now sitting in the grass holding Scabbers in his arms. His eyes widened as he looked up at them and Hermione whirled around, freezing. Behind them was a massive black dog, its fur slightly tangled, sticking up in places and terribly thin. Snarling, it leapt over them and Hermione watched as it growled, grabbed onto Ron’s leg and started pulling him into a tunnel of the tree that she hadn’t noticed before. Before Harry could grab his hands, Ron was dragged below the tree and Hermione stumbled into Harry.
A long branch of the Whomping Willow reached back, whacking them across the grass. Hermione wheezed, rolling onto all fours as Harry helped her stand. He grabbed her hand, and they ran towards the tree, dodging the large branches that fell heavily against the ground beside them. A branch came between them, splitting them up and another came straight for her, she fell heavily onto it, swinging all the way through the air. She was screaming, before being ripped through the branches that cut into her face. She reached out, grabbing onto Harry’s shirt as she threw him towards the tunnel. The tree whipped her around again, and she let go, throwing herself towards the hole. She landed roughly on top of Harry, who broke her fall.
“Sorry, sorry.” After a moment they stood up, trying to catch their breath. Every muscle was sore and Hermione could feel cuts on her hands and face from where the tree had whipped her through the small branches. Standing, they made their way down the tunnel. It was larger than she thought that it would be, the roots of the Whomping Willow built into the dirt surrounding them. Rough slabs of stone made up the walls as though they had been built into the dense Earth. Steps led up further and they made their way through until there was a staircase leading to a small trapdoor.
Harry went up first, disappearing through it before reaching down to help her through. She climbed up, her hands brushing against dusty hardwood floors. The house around them was rundown, creaking as it seemed to sway in the wind. Her eyes widened. “Harry, we’re in the Shrieking Shack.”
He nodded once, grabbing her hand as they followed the bloodtrail that streaked the floor up the stairs. Ron’s yells echoed through the empty halls along with the wind. They made their way through a door that was broken off at the bottom. Ron stared at them with wide eyes.
“Harry! You have to get out of here, it’s a trap! He’s an Animagus!”
Hermione whipped around, noticing the pair of shoes that were peeking out from the bottom of the splintered door. It creaked closed slowly, revealing a man with long black hair, dark brown eyes and wearing tattered clothes. He was covered in flecks of mud, his face gaunt and thin like the rest of him. She recognized him after a moment as Sirius Black. She stepped forward, in front of Harry.
“If you want to kill Harry, you’ll have to kill me too.” Harry grabbed her roughly, shoving her to the ground and she felt the air woosh out of her as he charged towards him. Sirius moved, letting Harry drag him to the ground. Just as Harry had raised his wand to Sirius’s neck, the door burst open and Professor Lupin ran in. “Expelliarmus!” Harry’s wand flew from his hand, landing in Lupin’s. He was pointing his at Sirius who was laughing maniacally on the floor in front of him. Lupin reached his hand out to him, yanking him towards him with a hug and Hermione flung herself forward. Harry looked betrayed and Hermione stepped closer to them.
“You’re a liar. We trusted you!” Harry screamed from behind her.
“You’re a Werewolf, that’s why you’ve been missing classes. This whole time you’ve been his friend.” She raised an accusatory finger at Sirius and stepped even closer to them. Ron made a pathetic whimpering noise and Lupin stared at her in wonder.
“How long have you known that?”
“Since Professor Snape made us write an essay on Werewolves the first time that you missed class. He was trying to warn us, wasn’t he?
Lupin stared at her, his eyes wide. “I’M DONE WAITING! I WAITED LONG ENOUGH! LET’S KILL HIM. HE’S RIGHT THERE.”
Lupin spun around, staring at Sirius who was now shaking and staring at Ron. Hermione furrowed her brows and missing pieces started to fall together. “Fine, but you need to explain it to Harry. He deserves to know the truth.”
“Peter! Come out Peter!” Hermione turned, staring at Ron who was holding Scabbers as pieces clicked together.
He’s been in our family for twelve years.
Bloody rat is missing a toe.
All that was left of him was a finger.
He killed my parents!
Just as she went to speak, she heard Snape’s voice and she closed her eyes, cursing. Turning, she watched as he billowed into the room, his black robes flying out behind him. Raising his wand, he pointed it towards Sirius, a smile that she had never seen before on his face made her wince. He looked bloodthirsty. Sirius looked deranged.
“My my, I hoped that I would be the one who would get the pleasure of catching you. Vengeance is sweet, Sirius.”
“Look at you, Snape drawing conclusions again and per usual coming up with the wrong ones.”
Lupin grimaced, stepping towards Sirius, “Sirius, maybe you should shut up for once.”
“You! I told Dumbledore not to trust you, that you were letting him into the castle.” Snape hissed back at Lupin before stepping towards Sirius who stepped into his wand, a deranged look in his eyes.
“Go play with your chemistry set, Severus.” Hermione felt Harry slip her wand from her pocket, and a second later he blasted Snape into the old dusted bed, watching as it crumbled in a spray of dust. Her eyes widened.
“Harry!”
“What do you know about Peter Pettigrew?”
“He went to school with us, he was our friend!”
“We thought that he was our friend!” Sirius laughed, glaring at Ron again. This time she knew it was directed at Scabbers in his hands. Lupin moved in front of Harry’s wand that was trained on Sirius and she shuffled closer to Ron, carefully. “He betrayed us, betrayed them! Cut his finger off like the bloody coward that he was.”
Hermione reached down, yanking Scabbers from Ron’s grasp. The thing squeaked and wriggled. Ron was screaming at her in protest and she stepped towards the table, placing the rat carefully down, but not letting go. It was scrambling, attempting to get out of her hands.
“He’s been in your family for twelve years, Ron. That’s how long Sirius was in Azkaban. Garden rats don’t have that long of a lifespan.” She lifted her eyes to Sirius’s who was eyeing her with something she couldn’t place. “Show us.” She released the rat, and Sirius jumped forward, waving his wand in an attempt to hit him with a spell. Just as the rat was trying to escape through a hole in the wall, the spell hit him, and she watched a plump, rat-faced man be yanked from the wall by the other two men. Harry’s eyes were wide and he was staring at them open mouthed.
The man scrambled backwards, his hands wringing together in front of him and Hermione realized that he was more rat than man. Much like Sirius seemed to be feral like the large black dog that he turned into. “My old friends!” Hermione sneered at the man, standing next to Harry as he scrambled towards him on his hands and knees. “Harry! You look so much like James!.”
Hermione snarled at him just as Sirius appeared, backing him away from Harry and Hermione. “Don’t you dare talk to him! You sold James and Lilly out to Voldemort!”
Peter snarled, scrambling underneath the Piano as Lupin and Sirius scrambled after him. “I didn’t mean to! The Dark Lord–he..he. You would have done the same!”
Hermione glared at him. “Some of us would rather die than betray the people we love.” The words were laced with venom and meaning. She would. She would’ve gladly died for any of the people that she loved because only a few years ago she had nobody.
Peter scrambled towards the door and Hermione stood in front of it blocking him, he turned towards Harry, dropping to his knees as he tried to hug his legs. Harry kicked him off. “We’ll take you back to the castle and let the Dementors have their way with you.”
After they had decided to make their way towards the entrance of the tunnel, dragging Ron behind him. Hermione nodded Harry towards Sirius, staying with Ron. She knew that she had to talk to him. Ron stared at her. “They might have to chop it off, look at it. It’s ruined.”
Hermione knew that he was looking for sympathy and she rolled her eyes. “Yes, Ron they just might.” He whimpered and she looked it over. “Madam Pomfrey will be able to fix it, you’ll be okay.”
Ron smiled at her, and she looked away towards where Lupin was dragging a pleading Pettigrew through the opening of the tunnel. Her eyes flitted towards the sky behind where Lupin and Pettigrew were standing and she shrieked. “Harry!”
The full moon had just broken from the clouds and she turned in time to see Lupin turning towards it. Sirius scrambled forwards, his hands wrapping around Lupin’s middle. She reached, realized that Harry still had her wand and watched as Peter shifted back to a rat, scrambling away from them. “You live in this heart, Lupin remember the man that you are. Remember the man that I love.” Hermione stared up at them and her heart thudded against her ribcage. Lupin’s face was changing, becoming long and narrow and he grew taller, his legs shifting into paws. Sirius was struggling with containing Lupin as he shifted, breaking from his clothes as they ripped and shredded around them.
As he fully transformed, he threw Sirius off, whimpering as he folded in on himself. Snape scrambled from the opening, just as Lupin’s head snapped to where they were standing. With a snarl, Hermione noticed that he was stalking towards them now, Snape grabbed her and Harry, shoving them behind him. Ron was still on the rock behind them and Snape put himself in between Lupin and him. Just as Lupin was raising his paw, Sirius leapt from the hill, putting himself between Lupin and the rest of them. She watched in horror as they wrestled, a clashing of teeth and claws.
Harry broke from Snape’s hold, chasing after Lupin and Sirius who had run around the hill. Snape gripped her arm tightly, hard enough to bruise and she scrambled against his hold. “Don’t you dare, Hermione. I will not hesitate to hex you to ensure your safety.”
A howl echoed across the night and she watched as Harry scrambled after Sirius and Lupin bounded into the forest.
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Hermione leaned over Harry, shaking him awake. “Harry! Wake up!” After a moment, his eyes blinked open at her and she watched him take in his surroundings. “We have to hurry! They’re going to perform the kiss! We have to stop them!”
She turned towards the doors of the hospital, just as Dumbledore entered. “It was Scabbers! He’s innocent.”
Dumbledore looked confused for a moment, glancing at Ron curiously. “Scabbers?”
“He was my rat. Well, Peter Pettigrew was my rat I supposed but–”
“You have to believe us.”
“I do. However, the word of three 13-year old wizards wouldn’t do it. Although…” Dumbledore turned to her and she saw the gears turning in his head. “Time is a curious thing. It can be dangerous when meddled with. However, you know all about that don’t you Ms. Granger?”
Hermione paused, her eyes snapping to him. He was telling her to use the time turner.
“More than one innocent life can be saved if you use your time wisely. I believe three spins may do the trick but you must be careful…Sirius is in the cell atop the tower. You know the laws…you cannot be caught.”
Hermione nodded, and as he slipped through the door, she wrapped the chain around Harry and her, turning the turner three times. Harry was staring at her confused and she watched the scene around them blur as it changed and rewinded. She pulled the chain off of them, tucking it back into her shirt and ran down the hallway, Harry yelling protests behind her.
She stopped, grabbing his shirt and shoving him into the wall roughly. “This is a time-turner. McGonagall gave it to me at the beginning of the year so that I could attend my classes. I’ve been using it all year. Dumbledore wanted us to return to this moment specifically.”
“We went back in time?”
Hermione nodded, turning as she waited for them to make their way down the hill towards Hagrid’s. Sliding behind the pumpkins after she watched them disappear into the hut. They waited, and watched. Hermione heard Dumbledore and the Minister approaching and she wondered why they hadn’t left the hut yet. Glancing down she saw the stone and picked it up, throwing it hard enough to shatter the vase behind past-her in the hut. She tossed another one, hitting Harry in the back of the head.
“Sorry.”
“That hurt.”
Past-them came scrambling from the house and Hermione pulled Harry into the forest, just behind where they were sitting behind the pumpkins. She glared, realizing just what Pansy had meant about her hair as she saw it from the back. A twig broke under her foot and she hid behind the tree just as past-her whipped towards the sound. When they left, Harry crept forward, unchaining Buckbeak. Slowly, they persuaded him into the forest, Hermione grabbing the ferrets as they led him into the darkness.
After they made their way through the forest, Hermione realized that she was the one who howled to lead Lupin away from Harry, and they had run away from Lupin who had chased after them instead. Buckbeak had successfully scared Lupin away, although Hermione wondered how well he was going to fare in the morning after a hoof to the head. They had scrambled towards the lake and she had watched Harry cast a powerful Patronus saving both him and Sirius. After saving Sirius they burst through the hospital doors just as past-them vanished into thin air. The look on Ron’s face was worth it, she had decided as she made her way to her room afterwards. It had been a horrible exhausting night and she was tired. She wanted nothing more than to tuck herself into bed.
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She made her way back downstairs later that next day, wincing as her body protested. She went straight to Professor Snape’s office, knocking gently. He opened the door with a glare, motioning for her to come inside. “Do you have any idea the amount of danger that you put yourself in yesterday?”
“I’m sorry, it’s not like I planned to just get thrown around by a Whomping Willow, run away from a Werewolf, and free Sirius Black from getting kissed by Dementors. You act like every time I wake up in the morning I just plan my day full of mischief. I get dragged into these bloody things.” Hermione glanced back up at Snape who was glaring at her.
“You are going to go home with Draco this summer. I cannot have you at the house. You would be in too much danger.”
“Why?” She narrowed her eyes at him and he glared back at her.
“I’m not inclined to answer any of your questions, Granger. Just do as you're told so that you are kept safe. I am having an..unwelcome House Guest and I don’t believe that you will be safe there. You will be safe at the Manor.”
“So I’m just supposed to…what? Ride the train back home with Draco and ride it back with him next year?”
Snape raised an eyebrow at her. “Is it really any different than what you have been doing the past few summers? I will not explain myself further, you will do what you’re told.” Hermione rolled her eyes, and then stared at her feet.
“Alright.”
Snape stared at her for a moment, she could feel his eyes on her before turning back towards his Potions Cupboard. “Take this after you eat. You look positively dreadful. Draco is already aware of you accompanying him. Mr. Nott will also be joining you in light of recent…developments. His father will be away. The three of you will report back to my office and take the floo directly to Malfoy Manor.” Hermione’s eyes went wide and she nodded. “Hermione? One more thing.”
She turned back towards him, her hand resting on his door. “Should you ever find yourself in danger that you cannot escape…you can search within yourself to find a connection. Simply tug and you will find that your message will be received. Help will always come for you should you need it. All you have to do is ask.”
Hermione turned his words over in her mind and nodded. Then she turned on her heel and made her way back up to her room. Draco and Theo were already waiting in front of it, and they pushed off of the wall as soon as their eyes landed on her. Draco’s hands were against her cheeks and his eyes were scanning over every bruise and scrape she had gotten throughout the night. She winced, pulling back and grabbing Theo’s arm as he attempted to make his way down the hallway past her.
“Theo! It’s not what you think.”
“And what is that exactly, Granger?” Draco’s voice was cold and deadly and she rolled her eyes, yanking them both into her room. After forcing them to sit at wand point she retold the events of the night and they stared at her with incredulous expressions. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Is she joking?” Theo was looking at Hermione but his question was pointed towards Draco. She huffed and sat down on the armchair, wincing slightly as she pulled the Potion from her robes.
“I probably wouldn’t have looked as dreadful if I would’ve allowed Madam Pomfrey to heal me at the time but there were more pressing matters to attend to.”
Draco glared at her and she watched him stand up, and make his way towards the door. Opening it, he made to step out before looking over his shoulder at her. “Honestly, Hermione. Yes, every matter besides your health and safety is more important to you, isn’t it? Merlin. I’ll see you in Snape’s office.” He slammed the door and Hermione raised an eyebrow at Theo who was glaring at her.
“Don’t look at me. I agree with him.” Hermione scoffed. “You put every single bloody person ahead of you and it’s going to get you killed. I can promise you, that if that happens, Granger–I will personally kill every person that took precedence over your life. You saved his Cousin–who he barely knows by the way–risking your life in the process and you’re expecting him to just wash that down with a bit of Pumpkin Juice? And me! Your own brother gets to sit here and listen to you tell me stories about how you almost died. Over and over again. Every year I almost lose you. I almost see the life drain from your eyes every time. Do you know what my Boggart turned into after you left?”
Hermione shook her head.
“It was your eyes. Lifeless and dull. That’s what my biggest fear is. Not my father. Losing you. Both of us are terrified to lose you and you just waltz around the damn castle without a care in the world for your life. You don’t get to do that. Not anymore.”
Hermione nodded.
Theo glared at her. “Take your bloody Potion before I go and hex Ronald to make me feel better.” Hermione reached for it, hesitated and then downed it. “Good. I’ll see you in Snape’s office.”
She stared at the space he occupied as he slipped from the door and realized that he just gave her the same lecture that she had given Harry at one point in time.
Merlin how different things were.
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Draco refused to speak to her for a week when they got back to the Manor until she finally cornered him on the Quidditch Field, hexing his feet whenever he tried to back away from her. They screamed at each other and then later after dinner all three of them were curled up on a blanket outside, watching the stars together. Narcissa had given her a hug, thanking her for rescuing Sirius and Lucius had told her that she never ceased to surprise him.
Nobody gave her any answers as to why Snape wasn’t wanting her at his house and she grew increasingly frustrated with the lack of explanations. She spent more and more time in her mental library at night before bed, attempting to lock away the anxiety and panic that seemed to be budding in her stomach. She had been sitting in her chair one night, staring up at the stars when she heard her door burst open suddenly. She shot from her chair and watched as Draco scanned her room. He was panting, his chest rising and falling in fast breath’s. His white shirt was soaked with sweat, sticking to his back. She made a move to enter the room and Draco’s gray eyes snapped to where she was standing.
“Bloody hell, Hermione.” Draco ran a hand over his face and she blinked at him.
“What? Are you alright?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just…” He muttered, trailing off as he tugged on the ends of his hair. He wasn’t looking at her, his eyes trained on her empty bed.
“I’m fine, Draco.” She stared at him. He had shot up this summer, gaining height on Theo and she had noticed that his jawline had sharpened. They hadn’t discussed their kiss that they had towards the middle of last year and she found herself having the uncontrollable urge to press her lips to his. She walked over to him and pressed her hands against his chest. “Draco? Look at me, do you feel this? I’m right here. I’m fine.”
Her hands drifted up to his cheeks, turning his head towards her. He clamped his eyes closed and she felt him trembling as he let out a stuttered breath. “I just had to make sure that you were alive.”
“Draco.” He shook his head softly, and she rubbed her fingers along the base of his neck, tangling them into his hair and tugging softly. He lifted his arms, fingers closing around her wrists before they snaked down to her hips. He turned his head, pressing his lips softly to the inside of her wrist before gently pulling her towards him. His head dropped onto her shoulder as his arms snaked around her waist, holding him to her.
“Just let me hold you for a moment, please.” She nodded against his shoulder, his breath ghosting across her neck. After a while he released her, stepping back and looking at her one last time before slipping from her room, shutting the door behind him as if he didn’t just hold her like she would disappear any minute.