Prologue: 12072&1096

She had the urge to run. It was the strongest feeling that overtook her since she found out about her parent's death. Her mother and father, the ones who gave her everything they could were buried underground. The Death Eaters found them before they moved out to Australia, they decided to torture them to get the location of Harry Potter. Or that was the excuse, their twisted, sadistic minds probably found it as fun. She suspected that they knew that the messages wouldn't get to her, not while she was in hiding. And even so she wouldn't betray her friend. She would rather have them take her instead, covered by a layer of Polyjuice Potion or a heavy Glamour Charm, all to protect Harry. Her mind had made lots of scenarios where she found a way to prevent it. But still, they were dead and her precautions to keep them safe had failed. Harry would be too, he left, his last words told her that he was a Horcrux. She knew what it meant, Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived, her best friend, her last family would die.

She turned numb within a few seconds after he left and now, when Voldemort came to Hogwarts with a dead Harry in the arms of Hagrid she couldn't control it any longer and let go of all the control she had, she let her feet drag her to an unknown place. She heard Ron's voice protest but she couldn't stop. Hermione knew that they had to destroy the snake and kill Voldemort but blast it! She let herself start and couldn't stop now. The tears blurred her eyes as she made her way around the castle.

When she finally came to a stop, the same urge overtook her, asking her to dive into her beaded bag. There were no whispers around her head, nor anything controlling her, it was just a feeling-an instinct. She decided to follow it and unconsciously reached out for the book Dumbledore left her with. The same feeling told her to read it. She couldn't read now, let alone concentrate on anything as her mind was a collection of jelly and memories, but again, she couldn't stop her fingers from opening the book. What came as a little surprise is that her hands dragged her to the last empty pages, which were now marked in someone's handwriting.

Miss Granger,

This letter must not appear unless, to my greatest displeasure, all the ways to end Tom Riddle's reign of terror have perished.

Hermione, you are the brightest witch of your age, the title gives you little justice as you are more than brilliant, however, it doesn't lie about your knowledge. I am sure that you have heard the tale of Harry's survival on the night of Halloween, 1981. Need I remind you that Love conquers all? In the end, Voldemort, who has never known Love was destroyed by it.

I trust you have found out by now, that a piece of Voldemort is living inside Harry Potter, making him a horcrux. I apologize for hiding the truth, however, I wanted the boy to have enjoyed life as long as possible before his inevitable end. You may not believe me and think of me as a selfish, old fool, I confess to your right to do so but I have to ask of one more act of selfishness from you. The terrible act that I ask of you is to be stabbed by Time itself.

I ask you to help Tom Riddle understand love. He hated everyone since the beginning, his father had abandoned him and his mother-after his father's abandonment-had lost the will to live and died shortly after giving birth to him. I had wondered many times before, what would happen if he had been given a chance to love? I believe that if he were to have a family things may have played out differently.

On one of my trips to find a stop to the ways of Gellert Grindelwald I have come across many things. However, none of them have scared me as much as one potion and spell. I have read the warnings written in runes and decided upon using it to save my sister and stop Gellert. My courage was quickly proved useless when the potion deemed me unworthy. It saw me as selfish for trying save myself from the guilt. It did not open and the spell became unreadable too. I have checked, before my death and it confirmed that you have the right to use it while it still thought of me as selfish.

If you decide to go along this dangerous path and take it, you would become his relative, born on the same day, December 31st, in 1926. After being born in 1926 you will live a normal life without the memories of your life here, in the 1990's. Your memories will only resurface by the time you will reach the age of 11, that is when you need to start mending Tom Riddle's notions. You need to find a way to make him feel loved before it is too late. If you convince your parents to give a home to him, to give him a chance of a loving family, the darkness might let go of him.

After you arival there, to 1926, weather you completed the mission or not, you will have no chances of returning back, therefore it is such a selfish thing of me to ask. Hermione Granger will never be born in 1979, as will your parents never exist. Please, Miss Granger, I beg you to forgive a dying fool like me, forgive me for choosing to die a coward, knowing I had a chance to change it all. I may excuse myself by reminding you that I had to face Gellert, and how I should defeat him but we both know that I'd be covering up my fears. Forgive me for making you go through this path. Forgive me for my selfish nature through which I choose you to be stabbed by Time and be teared into a million pieces.

However, if you choose to go through with this, if you are ready to sacrifice yourself the small bottle with the potion is kept in my pensive. You can't feel it, nor you would be able to see it but by using the enchanted words you will have the ability to retrieve it. After drinking the potion, you will have to chant a spell written around the glass vile to start everything, in doing so I ask you to focus on the year 1926. If you happen to be needing my trust when you come there please give me Ariana's wand, which you will find in a red box, in the Room of Requirement, in 1938. The words 'I need a place to keep Ariana's wand safe' will activate the correct room. This way I can be sure that I was the one who sent you. I have to ask you not to inform me on anything particular about the future or Grindelwald's defeat. You cannot show me this message either, as it contains information that might help Gellert Grindelwald's rule, so upon your arrival I want you to destroy it. Please do not reveal any information to anyone who might put it at risk. I am dearly sorry that it had to happen this way but it's the only way and you're the only one who I could ask to do this.

Good luck, Miss Granger.

Albus Dumbledore.

She was released instantly from the instincts that took over her body as the words sunk into her. She was in the Headmaster's office, the pensive which Harry dived through was still soaked with Snape's memories. Looking around she couldn't stop from collapsing on the floor and crying out. Harry was dead. Harry was dead. Harry was dead. Voldemort won. Another series of sobbs escaped her lips. Before leaving for the Horcrux hunt she promised herself to take care of Harry and Ron. This situation was out of her control but Harry had died and she didn't even do anything to stop it. She could have stopped him. She could have saved Harry.

Voldemort would kill all the muggle-borns and blood traitors before enslaving the muggles. She was angry with Dumbledore for keeping it all to himself, she felt the rage bubbling inside her. To know that a man she once looked up to had asked her to do this was making her terrified. But. Harry was dead, her parents were dead and soon everyone she loved would die. She had to do this. She had to stop this from happening. Any small chance, anything, any step she had to take to stop this she would now do. She had to because it was all her fault and she had to do this for the memory of her parents and Harry and everyone the war cost her.

A part of her was trying to tell her that it wasn't her fault and that she couldn't do this to herself but it was completely drowned in guilt and self loathing. Why was she so helpless? -Ron. Her heart melted at the image of him. She loved him and she wouldn't do this to him. She loved him. But then again, he would be killed soon, if not what kind of future is the one where you are constantly on the run from Death Eaters and Snatchers? She would do this for him too. She loved him. She would sacrifice it all for the little time they had. Hermione made up her mind. She would do this.

Her mind instantly remembered the revealing spell she used on Tom Riddle's diary in her second year as her legs made their way to the pensive. She flicked out her wand.

"Aparecium."

Nothing happened. She thought back to the letter and read the words again. She remembered that her Headmaster had the ability to be very straight forward. She cringed at the thought before reading out loud.

"using the enchanted words you-"

The pensive shined with a yellow light she knew weren't the memories. Her hand carefully, not to get lost in the memories took out the little vile. A liquid in the colour of forest green with tiny yellow sparks was inside and a small parchment was wrapped around the lid. It simply read: 'Reducam damnatis tunc revoca'. With shaky fingers she opened the lid and stared at it. She couldn't do it. She couldn't drink it. She closed the lid.

Hermione's legs failed her again as she fell and stumbled onto the table that held the pensive. She sat up against it and cried. Why was she so helpless? She remembered every time that her parents were angry with her, she remembered every moment of her pain and embracement. She remembered the faces and the words mixed with the emotions. She remembered losing everyone she loved. Every time she felt the pain, she would willingly go through it again if that meant that she could be somewhere else now. Why her? Why did it have to be her who sacrificed everything? She couldn't do it, she cried. All the pain from this life meant that she had existed. It meant that no matter in how much pain she was, she was alive, she was a survivor and she existed. She didn't want to be erased from existence along with her parents.

Her parents were dead, Harry was dead, Ron would die too. Bellatrix would finish of her job and torture her before a bloody death or she would be ripped apart by Time and maybe save everyone, but she would lose herself. Somehow option one seemed brighter in Hermione's mind. But then she remembered Harry and his nobility and how much her parents loved her. They would have gave up their lives in orde for her to survive, she would have done the same for them. They were dead but she knew that they would let her erase them if it meant that their daughter was in a safer place. 'Love conquers all' was whispered in her mind. Maybe, even if she erased them, a part of her would keep them with her forever. She loved them so much, so maybe even without existing they would still be a part of her life. Without having another moment to think over the liquid was drained from it's vile.

She took out her wand and taking a breath muttered the words that would destroy Hermione Granger. "Reducam damnatis tunc revoca" having it said she started focusing on 1926.

She barely noticed someone climbing up the stairs in a hurry nor did she hear when they entered the room.

"Hermione!" The words echoed around the room before she opened her eyes. Her brown orbs met the eyes that reminded her the leaves of oak trees. It was Harry. He rushed towards her in a hurry to embrace her, to make sure that his friend, his sister was safe.

She didn't believe it. Harry was dead. She hurriedly took steps back in panic.

"Hermione, it's me. Harry Potter." His eyes were breaking down in tears.

In a rapid movement she pushed away the intruder who took her by the hand. He didn't let go and she struggled against him as he tried to convince her that he was Harry. With one hard shove she managed to get away from him, again, she didn't notice the pensive behind her and fell into it before she could react. White smoke blurred everything before showing a small redhead with her best friend's eyes.

"Hermione, I promise it's me. I'm alive. I didn't die." a voice spoke up from her left.

Hermione looked at him. She could see something behind his eyes, hear something behind his voice and feel something behind his actions. She believed him now. This was Harry. He was alive. How? Never mind, he hugged him back. She didn't trust her voice to answer something back. She didn't let go of him as they watched Snape's memories fade into new ones and she couldn't help it when her heart broke for her Potions professor. When they finally entered the world that was real she hugged-really hugged Harry.

"Why, how?" She asked while her mind was failing, miserably at processing that Harry was alive and thinking about Severus Snape. A pain like the Cruciatus Curse wrapped her body. "Hermione you're- Hermione!" Harry caught her in his arms.

There was a deafening scream.

Hermione Granger was evaporated from reality and stabbed multiple times by Time before, the feeling of tearing apart echoed through her body. She felt being quartered and chopped before tiny needles were sewing energetically at her skin, stitching her back together. With a gasp she opened her eyes as the pain suddenly stopped. She couldn't move. The air felt like acid. Her last memory was a terrible scream. The world had blacked out into a strange dream. Upon turning 14 years old she awoke, remembered everything that came from her previous life and the realization of her mistakes. No one noticed her silent sobs in the dormitory for four and there was no one to acknowledged that something had gone terribly wrong.

On the 2nd of May, before disappearing Hermione Granger last thought was of Severus Snape's life. She was born 12072 days late, on Tuesday, the 19th of January 1960. She woke up in the wrong time and regained her memories 1096 days late. Today was Saturday, January 19th, 1974.

…

Author's Note: This is my first time trying a time travel fic so I hope you like it. Thank you for reading and feel free to tell me about your thoughts or suggestions for where I could take the story next.

-Alli