December 14th, 1998 - Minister Shacklebolt's Office, Ministry of Magic

"Are you familiar with Time-Turners Miss Granger?" the Minister asked as his thumb rubbed against his index and middle finger on his right hand, his eyes stuck to the young witch before him.

"You know the answer to that question Kings—Minister." Old habits were the hard to break. Sitting before her was the familiar face of Kingsley Shacklebolt, and although this should be of comfort, she knew now that his request for a meeting was beyond a friendly chat.

Less than one year ago, The Golden Trio defeated the Dark Lord at The Battle of Hogwarts, or so the lines from The Daily Prophet read. This was supposed to be the coming of a new wizarding age, but the problem was no one was celebrating. The casualties of the war left scars too deep for even the most optimistic of wizards to ignore. It wasn't until she began her official time with the Aurors that she realized how deep these chasms ran in the recovering British Wizarding community.

Crime was on the rise. Although no one was supporting the Death Eaters, at least not publically, there was tension within the community that was so thick you could cut it with a knife. People were mourning their loved ones, struggling to find a purpose in this new world without them, and for those recent graduates of Hogwarts, the transition into adulthood proved a much more difficult transition than anticipated. Hermione was thrust into an adulthood without parents. Yes, she had Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, but when her relationship with Ronald ended so he could pursue more carnal delights than a singular witch. Well, their split did not leave her relationship with his parents intact. She could no longer use the Weasley's as surrogates for her own parents, at best their relationship could be consider cordial.

The Minister's fingers stopped their movement at her response. His hands shifted to push the sleeves of his purple dress robes up to his elbows before the file that lay upon his desk was opened, dark eyes shifting from the young witch in front of him to the parchment. "Hermione…. Your use of the Time-Turner was of great…. debate in the Auror department." His response was drawn out, as if struggling to find the right words to say. What did he think he needed to convince her of? The fact that he was tongue-tied was making Hermione uncomfortable, as she had never known Kingsley of being a man who struggled to find meaning to his words.

Shifting in the wooden chair, her left leg rose to drape over her right, crossing over at the knee as she leaned back. Her short-painted fingernails scratched lightly at the wood of the arms, and the feeling of the grain slide under the tips of her fingers seemed to comfort her while she waited for him to continue.

"When the Department of Mysteries began this research you were still a young girl, Hermione. In fact, this research was almost abandoned entirely when Albus was murdered." Her chocolate brown eyes dropped from his at his words, turning instead towards the file upon on his desk.

"Until recently, we assumed that when traveling back in time you could not alter the past….however we believe this to be incorrect. Miss .Granger, your own experience using the Time-Turner proved this to us. Had we not discovered the truth in Albus' pensive, we would have never thought to reopen this case."

"What are you saying, Kingsley? You want me to consult with the Department of Mysteries on how to alter time?"

"No, Miss Granger. We want you to assist the original Order in stopping Voldemort and his followers the first time."

December 31st, 1998 - 23:45 - Department of Mysteries

It had taken two weeks to convince Hermione this wasn't a suicide mission. It wasn't until Kingsley let her review that file that she allowed herself to believe the possibility of this stupid plan actually working. Apparently the Department of Mysteries began sending back representatives for small periods of time to experiment with the cause and effect they could have on the present. The trips were quick in the beginning, staying just long enough to plant a seed in the grass. Only to return 20 years to the present to have a young tree in its place. Of course, once they realized that the effects were lasting, they decided they could not let this discovery go unused.

Contacting the first Order of the Phoenix had been priority. Although as one could imagine, wizards and witches having not been through the second war were a bit harder to convince. It took several trips before they trusted and believed the representatives sent back. The plans to begin were secured by December 31St. Her mission was set. Hermione was under a strict non-disclosure spell to prevent this from leaking to the press or worse, sympathizers left behind from the war. No one could know what the ministry was up to. Not even her closest friends.

"Fuck," Hermione whispered under her breath as shaky palms brushed against the blue jeans she wore. Kingsley assured her she would not look out of place once there, although it did not ease the fear she felt bubbling up in her gut as she looked in the mirror. She'd seen pictures of her parents in similar attire prior to her birth. She had found a box of old photos when she was clearing out their home after their move to Australia. A lot of their possessions had been left behind in the hasty move to the new continent and it felt wrong to leave them rotting up in the attic.

Hands balled at her sides before plunging into her burgundy jacket pockets as her last shaky breath was taken. She turned on her heel to exit the small office she had gotten ready in. When returning to the office space from the private room she felt all eyes in the room land on her. "So…I guess we ought to get on with it then?" her voice cracked with the slightest hint of worry, although her body language attempted to lie to everyone in the room about her nervousness.

Kingsley rose from his chair, walking towards her with the small silver time turner held in his hands by a delicate chain. "Remember Miss Granger, you might come across some familiar faces. It is best if you do not indicate you know them from the future. Not all involved in this project are privy to the same information you are," he reminded as he gently placed the Time-Turner around the young witch's neck.

"You said my first visit would only be for one day, Kingsley. Who do you expect me to meet?"

"Arrangements were made between Alastor and Albus, but you never know…. We are rewriting the past." His lips rose in a slight smirk as his hands shifted from holding the silver chain to her shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze.

Hermione placed her hand on Minister's left forearm to return the friendly gesture before she took a step back from his grasp. As he began his walk back to the chair he once occupied, her hands lifted to pick up the small silver Time-Turner. This one looked different than her last. The hourglass was framed in an oval-shaped pendant of solid silver. Four layers of silver oval rings surrounded the pendent and the outermost ring connected to the silver chain. The grains of sand inside the hourglass were a deep purple, almost black, but in the right light you could see their true color.

"I suppose I'll see you soon?" Dark eyes lifted from the Time-Turner to Kingsley, who nodded.

Her fingers grasped the outer ring of the Turner, and eyes dropped to the object to make sure her movements were precise, even though she knew the correct sequence needed to travel back to her destination. Nimble fingers moved with no hesitation as she twisted and turned the outer rings before reaching the destination of the hourglass. With one final push, her fingers spun the hourglass around, and she felt the familiar pull of time.

It started at her navel and spread out like fire to the rest of her body. The world around her began to go in reverse until it moved so fast everything began to blur together in one fluid motion. Eyes closed tight as she brought her right hand to her lips, pressing her fingers tight against her mouth as nausea set in. She had never traveled this far back before. At the time of her first encounter with Time-Turners it was unthinkable to travel beyond five hours, yet here she was going twenty years.

With a sudden lurch she felt her body stop its travel through time. And as she landed in 1978 her knees buckled, sending her to the hard stone floor with a bang. The ringing in her ears prevented her from hearing the sounds of the room around her. As her dark eyes opened she found her surroundings blurred by tears.

'Get it together Hermione….you've done this before,' she told herself as she let out heavy breaths between retching as she attempted to prevent her body from expelling her dinner. Willing her body to calm down, her stare drifted up from the grey limestone flooring. Hidden behind the curtain of chestnut curls her eyes landed upon a pair of boots. The toes were scuffed by wear and even from her distance she could see the laces were in dire need of replacement.

"Blimey! You alright?"

Hermione's head rose as her right hand lifted to push back the curls from her face. Body tipped back, resting her arse upon the heels of her boots to take the pressure off her knees, which ached in pain from her fall to the floor. As her chocolate eyes connected with a familiar pair of smoke gray she took a sharp breath in.

"Sirius?"

The wizard who bent down to check on Hermione cocked his head to the side, and his brows shot up to the dark hairline before a wicked grin spread across his face. "So it is true….I really am so famous even birds from other ministries know about me."

Oh bollocks… it is him.

"I think I'm going to be sick…" her voice hovered only above a whisper as her mind began to whirl to catch up to what was happening. Her left hand pressed into the limestone floor as her right hand went to her gut. The young witch doubled over quickly and before she could stop herself, her dinner made its return from her stomach and onto the toes of Sirius's boots.