Chapter 1: The girl who time travelled.

The glacial, icy breeze was softly waving her hair, dancing slothfully with her crazy wild curls. It was a dark, dreary, lifeless evening. The last beads of light died, when the sleeping sun veiled itself and faded. The smell of death was bitterly flowing in the air, poisoning the last drops of hope she had in her heart. Her whole body was trembling in insane pain and her heart was aching in unthinkable, mind-boggling agony. She was tired. Her mind was exhausted and weary.

It has been hours since it was over. He was dead. Harry Potter was dead. Her friend, her brother was dead. Everyone was dead. She didn't know. She couldn't understand how it happened. How she was still breathing and how her mind was still intact, functioning and working, because she felt that this dolor, sorrow and pain will make her crazy. She will die insane. But she was sitting there numb, paralyzed with agony and fear. It was over. She won't see them again. She won't see Ron any longer. She won't hear his mindless, stupid blabbering. She won't see any of these people. The Order fell. Everyone was dead. It has been hours since the castle was abandoned. She didn't dare to move.

There was no one. The mild, early summer zephyr was wandering gently pushing up the pages of torn books. She raised her tired body, clenching her wand in her hand and walked to the castle. There were so many fallen bodies. She didn't dare to look at them. She didn't dare to see a familiar face among them. Her clothes were covered in blood and she had several minor cuts. She needed to get inside the castle and find a good hiding place. She needed to plan the rescue of some of the members of Order who were still alive. She needed to do something. Harry was gone and he wouldn't like if she chickened down and did nothing.

Her small steps took her into a destroyed corridor. Her feeble legs trembled weakly. She fell down near the wall sick and frail. Her whole body was quivering in pain. And then she instantly felt her body temperature go up and her stomach curl in burning, fervid twinge. She tried to move but her mouth was briskly filled with watery saliva and she gagged breathlessly vomiting on the cold, stony floor. She felt nasty. She wanted to disappear. She closed her jaded eyelids and felt another spasm of sickness engulfing her torn muscles.

"I wish I could change everything," she thought bitterly.

A small door appeared in front of her. Was it the Room of Requirement? It couldn't be. This wasn't the 7th floor. Or maybe it was. The whole castle was absurdly destroyed for her to distinguish between the floors. She forced herself up and slowly walked to the door. She had to kneel to get into the room; the door was too small and short. She wondered for a moment, confused why it would be like that, but feeling too tired to contemplate further she just crawled in.

Entering in, she found herself in a normal sized room with nothing but a small table in the center. She felt confused but standing up walked to the table. Her breathing was unstable and loud. She knew that she had several cuts on her back and needed to take care of them. She still had her small beaded bag with her with burn-healing pastes and other healing potions she had stored.

There was a small parchment on the table and nothing else. Something was definitely wrong with the Room of Requirement after the destruction. As soon as she took it, her body went limp and she felt extreme pain and pressure surrounding herself. Everything went blank and she lost her consciousness.

She could hear a voice; masculine, hoarse voice, talking to her, calling her name. It was reaching her ears from far away. Someone was calling her in her dream. She couldn't tell whose voice it was, but it was far away, fainted and dim with shadows surrounding her. She slowly opened her eyes and shut them instantly. Piercing, acute stream of unpleasantly bright light burned her tender, sore eyeballs. A blurred image of a man standing in front of her, invaded her mind. She felt beaten and worn.

Where was she?

She was insanely tired to think. Every single muscle in her body was aching and her skin felt raw and sensitive. She couldn't remember what happened to her. She was... searching for a hiding place when... The memory of an awful pain, eating up her swelling body, returned to her mind. She was standing in a strange room when her whole being was squeezed like a manually effloresced piece of wet clothing. It felt like her ribs were crushed and piled into a mush, something so painful it felt worse than the Cruciatus Curse.

Was she found?

Panic filled her veins like a shocking venom. The thought of being caught by Death Eaters, cleared her mind promptly and she jumped up, breathing heavily. Then everything came into a focus and she realized she was sitting in a train compartment. There was a bulky short man standing right in front of her and looking at her worried. He had a glass in his hand that he immediately handed her as soon as she opened her eyes.

"Hear, drink this, Miss Granger," the man said with a warm smile.

She wasn't caught, was she? Who was this person? Her mind registered on the glass and she stared her surprised, doubting eyes at the man.

"Where am I?" she screamed stepping back and scanned her surroundings in absolute horror, "Who are you? What is going on?"

"Calm down, Miss Granger. You are safe. Please, drink this. It is a Calming Draught," the man said gently tucking the glass into her hand and forcing her down on the seat. She frantically started touching her pockets for her wand and feeling the solid silhouette of familiar wood underneath her muggle jacket, calmed down a bit.

"You are suffering from a severe shock," he explained. "Everything will be alright. Do you remember me?"

His voice felt familiar. It was the voice of the man from her dream, calling for her. She didn't know this man but he knew her. She looked down at the glass in her hand and glanced back at the man suspiciously. He was smiling back at her, quiet content and happy with himself, as if he accomplished something great. He didn't look like a Death Eater. Why was she in the train? Where was she going? The questions flew through her mind and her usually brilliant brain couldn't find logical answers. Though something was terribly off. She could feel it, she could sense it.

The man took out a pocket watch from his bright green suit and narrowed his eyes. His meaty, big hand started to play with a few grey hair he had on his balding head. If the situation was not so bizarre and unexpected, Hermione would find the whole thing amusing. She looked back at the glass and smelled the liquid in it. It did smell like Calming Draught but she couldn't drink it without knowing first who this man was, where they were going and what happened to her.

"I am afraid I don't..." she said scanning his merry, chubby face.

He raised his eyebrows and she could swear, she saw him pouting.

"Then, I guess you forgot our first meeting we had a few days ago," he said thoughtfully, "the healer told me as much. But after our conversation the other day, I thought you won't fall into a shock again."

She blinked, trying to clip together what she heard. So he met her a few days ago and they talked and she was seen by a healer. That was most likely true. Her body was still hurting and sore, but she could feel the cuts were gone. So he found her and helped her. Was he an Order member? Everything was not lost? A stream of hope stung her trembling heart with sweet shock.

"Where is the Order?" she asked quickly not giving him time to continue.

He stopped, arched his thick eyebrows and looked at her with contemplating, calculating gaze.

"I don't think I understand you Miss Granger," he said shrugging his shoulders in discomfort. "You are stressed and terrible things, I assume, happened to you. I found you a week ago, near the border of France."

She gasped at the revelation. How did she get there? What happened to her? Maybe the parchment in the room was a portkey that took her to a safe place like she wanted when sitting near the Room of Requirement. That was it. That has to be it.

"I have to say I was shocked to find you," he admitted and then smiled proudly, "I mean, it has been 15 years. No one believed it was possible to find you."

Hermione couldn't hide her surprise. What was this man speaking? What happened? Was she lost for 15 years. Did she somehow transfer herself into a different time period. That was so ridiculous that she wanted to mentally punch herself. She was Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age. How could she think of such absurd things? Obviously, this man was mixing up things. She couldn't have been out for 15 years, could she?

"I was appointed to work on your case last year," he continued explaining, "I have to say, that previous Aurors did their job really well and we actually couldn't understand how they managed to hide you for so many years. I was sincerely a bit skeptical when I found the tracking charm of your name active."

"I am afraid I don't understand," she said quietly.

"Oh, right!" he said shaking his round head, "Excuse me for my absent-mindedness, I forget that you were absolutely shocked when I found you and then after the healer attended your injuries you were out for 2 days. And then when you woke up and I explained everything to you, you were quiet dazed and tired. I guess, I should have waited with explanations and revelations until you were completely stable."

That's how he knew her name. Merlin, this man is utterly thick at giving explanations. Why couldn't he say all of that in the beginning? It all seemed so odd, though him helping her was not really explaining who he was, what he was talking about at all and where she was.

"I am Balbus Scorch, an Auror, Department of Magical Law Enforcement," he introduced himself with a solemn handshake.

"Hermione Granger," she said responding back.

"I know!" he smiled, "You told me the other day after you woke up. I am glad to finally meet you."

She wanted to ask many questions, but she knew she didn't have the right until she would find out who this man was and what he wanted.

She nodded making an effort to smile.

"So," she said carefully scanning his face, "why were you searching for me? And where are we going now?"

"I am taking you to your parents, Ms Granger or rather Ms Selwyn," he said with a pleasant smile plastered all over his meaty face.

Hermione wrinkled her eyebrows. Her heart tightened from slow, breathtaking beats. At the mention of her parents, the panic venomously poisoned her mind, clouded her senses and thinking became strenuous.

"Ms Selwyn?" she muttered thoughtfully, rubbing her temples, and then looking back at the man, asked impatiently, "What do you mean? What about my parents?"

Her hand automatically went to grab the outline of her wand. Selwyn? The name tasted so bitter in her mouth. That was a family involved with the monster Voldemort. She remembered the Death Eater Livius Selwyn. That bastard killed George and wounded Luna.

What is this man playing at? Is he trying to trick her?

Her aggressive reaction surprised the man. He was taken aback by frantic and distasteful response.

"You see, Ms Granger, you were taken away from your real parents and they were searching for you for all these years, and now that I finally found you, I am happy to tell you that you are the only daughter of Cassius and Athena Selwyn."

His words became muffled by the loud ringing that was racing in her ears. She was the daughter of Selwyns... The very thought send nasty shivers through her spine. Selwyn family was one of the members of the Sacred 28. It was one of those prejudiced, insane, bloodthirsty families that wanted all the muggleborn witches and wizards to cease to exist and now this man here, was telling her she was a Selwyn. She couldn't understand if it was joke or some other sick way of trying to sort things out with her. She knew she wouldn't give up anything.

Seeing the revulsion and disgust distorting her features, the man raised an eyebrow at her and continued to explain patiently.

"15 years ago 1 year old child of Cassius and Athena Selwyn disappeared with a young muggleborn witch named Eloise Thompson. Ms Thompson was a nanny at a time who just graduated from the Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry and was working for the Selwyn family to make some galleons to settle down in the Wizarding world. She was our first suspect. But we were unable to find her, nor we knew what kind of motive should have to abduct you. According to your parents she was a fairly calm and respectful girl. Most of us expected some kind of ransom demands. We got none."

Hermione gasped. What the man was speaking wasn't making sense to her at all. It was impossible for anyone to disappear and for the Auror department to be unable to find. There were just to many tracking charms unless someone lived in a house with Fidelius Charm and never left it. It wasn't the case for her. He definitely mixed up something or he was playing a game she still couldn't quiet understand. Then again, why would this man leave her with her wand, if he intended to do something hurtful to her? Maybe he thought she was good for nothing and was just giving her a false sense of security.

"...After your disappearance, your family contacted the Ministry of Magic and the Auror Department opened an official case trying to track you down. Surprisingly, there was no trace of you. Absolutely none. We didn't understand and I still don't, how it was possible. Some officers in the Investigation Department of Auror Office suspected that you were protected by some other Wizarding ministry. Though, it was unlikely and no one had a reason to keep you hidden. For the first month we were expecting to hear from the abductors and get demands of ransom. But nothing came. Nothing happened. That is when the Investigation team decided to use the Trace and contact all the other Wizarding schools..." his voice was filling Hermione's tired head like a strange smoothed chocolate drink.

He paused for a moment to look at her and seeing her horrified face smiled faintly and continued in bleary voice.

"...It still baffles me how they, whoever they are, managed to hide you so well and what suddenly made you reappear. We already lost any hope that we will find you. I was appointed on this case after the former Auror, Mr. Hopkirk, retired. I contacted Hogwarts and asked them to help me with their Tracing charm. You see, Ms Granger, wizards and witches born to muggles are being traced down by a special charm that Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry uses to track and find its muggleborn students. I am sure you heard of Hogwarts, right?" he asked rather softly and his voice appeared to be too genuine to Hermione's liking.

She looked at him contemplating of what to say. This person thought she didn't know about Hogwarts. He was speaking as if he didn't even heard of her name before. She quickly analysed the situation and a loud conclusion screamed in her mind. He found her near France. And whatever Tracking charm he was speaking about showed him to her. He seemed clueless and it was likely he didn't know much about her. But if he takes her to those Death Eaters, they will drag her to Voldemort, even if (she didn't want to exclude the possibility of her being Selwyn) whatever this man was saying was true.

She passively nodded in response, allowing the man to continue.

"...After a year of search and use of different tracking charms and reading previous reports by Aurors who worked on the case, I wanted to give up and inform your parents that you were most likely dead. We couldn't find Ms. Thompson either. It was unclear what happened to you and her and I hope you will be able to shed some light on those events, of course, if you are able to," he added quickly with an understanding smile, "So, I wanted to give up and contact your parents until up to the last week when I found the Modified Tracking Charm was indicating your location near the southern border of France. First, I thought something is wrong with it but then after my assistant checked the charm several times, we realized that it somehow found you. I contacted your parents and told them about the new development and discussed the issue with the the head of my department."

At that, he sighed and shook his head with a rough gulp of air and licked his lower lip. Hermione could imagine what kind of pain he had to endure judging from his face and blinked in agreement and nodded encouraging him to continue.

"First, we wanted to come with a group but then for variant reasons Mr. Diggory and I came into a consensus that I will go alone and try to sort out the issue myself. I found you in a small house. You were, Merlin, covered in blood. I first thought you were dead and that somehow dis-activated whatever hiding or concealing charm they used on you. But then I checked you and realized you are alive. You had a lot of bruises and cuts. I took you to a healer. As I said already, you woke up 2 days after I found you, screaming something about a boy called Harry. Then we talked, I explained to you everything and you were just nodding and then you blanked out again. I just learnt that your name was Hermione Granger at lest that is how you were called. You were experiencing a huge shock. I only guess what happened to you Ms. Selwyn, with the recent developments of Grindelwald, you should have been targeted for what I am very sorry. If we were able to find you sooner, you wouldn't have fell in one of the ambushes of Grindelwald."

At the mention of Grindelwald's name, Hermione's brain lost all the reasonable analysis it reached. She couldn't understand at all, why would the man even mention him, what he had to do with anything. Grindelwald was dead. Voldemort killed him. He mentioned her calling Harry's name like some random thing. Something not really important.

She only nodded in response not knowing what else to do. Something was off. That unnerving feeling was torturing her senses since she opened her eyes and saw this man.

"I was actually happy to find you with a wand. Because we suspected you could be raised as a muggle or even be a squib and that was another reason we couldn't track you. Finding that you were a witch and alive, I have to say, made me even more puzzled, after all, how could you hide for 15 years. Not only the British Ministry of Magic was searching for you but we contacted all the other magical communities asking for help and they were working on the case sending us monthly reports."

She rubbed her face and closed her eyes. She was dreaming. This mess couldn't have possibly be true. She wanted to find a reasonable solution to what happened to her. But there was none. She was driven out of her thoughts by the same man who was telling her minutes ago that she was a pureblood daughter of a family that was a Voldemort supporter.

"Do you remember anything from your life?" he asked carefully, his voice almost soothing and tender, "Who did raise you? Were you told you were a witch? What happened to you? Did Grindelwald attack you?"

"I..." she looked at him again. This was the time to decide, if she would go along with his story, or attack him and leave. It was difficult to decide. But it seemed unreasonable to attack him in the train, and she didn't know what was all this about and was somewhat curious.

"I want to know why you think I am their daughter," she said sternly, taking a defensive stance, "Yes, sure, your tracking charm showed at me, but do you think that alone was enough to come to a conclusion about my parentage."

This kind of response clearly surprised the man. As if, he was waiting for the girl to completely agree with him and surrender, believing his every word. He pulled his brown trench-coat closer to him and that didn't escape Hermione's attention. She recognized the coat as a sort of uniform to be worn by Aurors. So, he wasn't lying at least about this one.

"I see you are pretty intelligent," he noted cheerfully all of a sudden, "I must admit, it was foolish of me to have another opinion of Athena's daughter. You actually look so much like your mother."

"I hope the possible physical similarity was not the reason for you to jump to the conclusion that I am the daughter of said Mrs. Selwyn, Mr. Scorch." she quickly retorted.

"Of course not!" he chuckled lightheartedly, "that was only a careful observation. Before coming to seek you, as I said, I contacted your parents and we decided to take precautions."

She narrowed her eyes on him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, while you were unconscious, Ms. Selwyn, I asked the healer to perform a paternity test, which fully confirmed the fact that you are the daughter of Athena and Cassius Selwyn," he handed her a piece of document.

Hermione carefully observed it. It couldn't have been made up. She knew how this worked from her potions class and the fact that the document stated whatever the man said, perplexed her to no end. She slowly turned the paper back to him and the man returned it to his case.

"I suppose that settled everything for you," he said searching through her features, "Now, I guess you can answer some questions and solve the mystery for me of how you were hidden."

"I don't know," she started carefully, "I was raised by muggles. My parents were Jean and Hugo Grangers."

"Were?" the man looked at her narrowing his eyes.

"Yes!" she decided to lie, "they are dead now."

"I am sorry," he mumbled, "I guess, it is the right time then for you to return to a family, when you lost the one that raised you. But the question of how you learnt you were a witch still remains. Did you get a letter from Hogwarts or Beaxbatons?"

"I never got a letter," she mumbled looking away from the man. She wasn't sure of how much she could lie to keep her parents and herself safe, "I was told I am a witch when accidental magic was occurring around me and my parents were concerned."

"Who told you, you were a witch?"

"My neighbour," she quickly answered, "Ms. Thompson."

The familiarity of the name made the man cringe. Hermione decided that would solve her problem but at the same time she was scared he would suspect something. They would sooner or later discover, she went to Hogwarts. Livius Selwyn knew her. She wasn't sure about who Cassius and Athena were. Maybe some other relatives, she wasn't familiar with, who weren't Death Eaters. The thought gave her hope. After all, the document indicated that she was their daughter. It was shocking and strange at the same time. She wasn't sure how to react. The memory of her dead friends were still lingering in the surface of her mind.

"So, she told you, you were a witch and gave you a wand?" he asked somewhat suspicious.

"She told me she is a witch and it is a secret and I shouldn't tell my parents or anyone," Hermione answered, "Soon, I met other witches and wizards of my age who were home schooled and I studied with them."

"I still can't understand what happened to you," he said thoughtfully, "why did Ms. Thompson did that to you?"

"I don't know" she said tentatively.

"Were you attacked by Grindelwald's people?" he asked.

"I don't want to speak about it," she said frustrated.

"I understand Ms. Selwyn," he mumbled leaned forward and patting her arm, "I am sure, it is something you don't want to remember or think about. I hope you will recover soon. It's safe for you in Britain with your family."

She didn't answer to that. Her mind was still busy trying to sort things out. She didn't know what was going on. She needed time and plan to save those who got captured by the Death Eaters. The train was peacefully moving forward as if nothing had happened. She remembered the first day she stepped into this train. That seemed so long ago.

*I attached Second chapter to the first one as they seemed to fit together more.
*My next update will be soon and I want to let you know that soon I will publish a super funny and illogical Dramione story. (A very nontraditional one ;) )
*This note will be deleted soon, as I cant post notes as a chapter. Just wanted to let everyone know that my first and second chapter had corrections and they were added to each other.
*if you have any suggestions and noticed any mistakes let me know. If you have any opinions on the pacing, characters let me know.