Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no profit from this story

Chapter 1: Freak Turbulence

Hermione's breath came in painful gasps as she desperately tried to escape the Death Eaters who were in hot pursuit. She threw open the door in front of her and instantly recognized the time room from her last visit.

The trio had come to the Ministry out of desperation. Voldemort had control of the government, Hogwarts and Gringotts and was gaining more support every day. Wizards were fleeing the country in droves to escape the horrors inflicted on all those who did not support the new regime. Harry was sure if they could find records pertaining to magical artifacts that one of the ministry departments kept they might be able to find a lead on the last two missing Horcrux's. Unfortunately they had been discovered. Ron had gone down first, caught by an Avada. Hermione had been separated from Harry soon after and did not know what fate had befallen him. She had been driven in the direction of the Department of Mysteries and had hoped to lose her pursuers in the maze within.

Hermione cried out in pain as she was hit with a reductor. She crashed into the table filled with time turners in front of her and she heard shattering glass. Then the room started to swim and everything went black.

Hermione came back to herself slowly. She could feel a cold stone floor below her and someone gently shaking her shoulder.

"Hey, can you hear me? Come on, wake up."

Hermione groaned as she tried to pry her eyes open and immediately closed them against the brightness that assaulted her. After a moment to adjust she opened her eyes.

"Harry? What happened? Are they gone?" She asked. The world was still out of focus but they were in a brightly lit corridor lined with windows, definitely not the ministry.

"Harry? I think you hit your head, my name's James. Do you know where you are?" he looked concerned.

Hermione's eyes focused on the boy leaning over her in alarm. She looked into his eyes and instead of Harry's familiar green they were hazel. She studied him and found that almost everything else was identical to her best friend, from the messy raven hair to the narrow build. That meant...

"James... oh shit" Hermione tried to push herself up and cried out in pain as her ribs screamed in protest.

"Hey take it easy, you must have taken quite a fall." The boy reached out and carefully pushed her shoulder back towards the floor. "Sirius went for help, someone should be here soon. What's your name?"

Hermione took a few painful breaths desperately trying not to hyperventilate. James and Sirius... James Potter and Sirius Black, and James looked close to her age.

"My name, it's Hermione Granger. Are we at Hogwarts? What's the date?" Her eyes continued to dart around trying to comprehend what was happening.

James looked at her strangely.

"You must have really hit your head. Yeah, this is Hogwarts and its September 19th."

"The year, what year?"

"1976. Are you alright, you look a bit pale." He was looking at her like she was crazy now.

"1976..." Hermione repeated softly. She brought her right hand to her ribs carefully feeling them. "I think my ribs are broken." She winced "and my left wrist too."

James looked horrified clearly having not guessed the extent of her injuries.

"How did you manage that?"

Luckily Hermione was saved answering by the arrival of Sirius with Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore in tow. Hermione gave a painful sigh of relief - Dumbledore. If anyone could help her he was it. Hermione turned her attention to Sirius and looked him over in shock. He held only the slightest resemblance to the man she had known. The biggest difference was his eyes. Now his eyes were filled with joy, mischief and energy while in the future they had looked haunted and so filled with pain and regret. The difference was striking.

"What happened here Miss...?" He looked at her without recognition.

"Hermione Granger sir," James answered for her. "She's hurt, says she's got broken ribs and a broken wrist."

Madam Pomfrey quickly bustled over and began muttering waving her wand. Hermione felt the pressure and pain in her chest decrease exponentially.

"We have to get Miss Granger to the hospital wing immediately. Dumbledore if you would be so kind?" The elderly headmaster flicked his wand and Hermione felt herself gently leave the ground.

"Thank you boys, you may return to your classes now. I assure you Miss Granger will be taken care of."

James and Sirius watched the strange girl being transported away. Once they were out of sight Sirius turned to James.

"What did you find out about her?" He was still staring towards where they had turned the corner.

"Not a lot," James looked confused. "She didn't seem to know where she was, or what the date was. And her injuries. You don't get broken ribs from falling, and the fact that she must have had broken ribs before since she knew what the pain was. It was weird; she seemed to relax once she found out where she was. She looked almost panicked before that, like she thought she was in danger."

The two pondered it for a few minutes before hurrying off to their next class.

Once Madam Pomfrey had treated Hermione and left Dumbledore turned to the injured girl.

"Well Miss Granger, would you like to explain how you came to be hurt and in my school when I've never heard mention of you before?" His blue eyes surveyed her obviously trying to determine if she was a threat.

"Sir first I must ask you to keep an open mind, what I'm about to tell you is going to sound farfetched." She waited for his nod before continuing. "As you already know my name is Hermione Granger, and I'm a student here, just not for another 15 years. I was in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic being chased when I was grazed by what I think was a reductor and thrown into a table full of time turners. I passed out and when I woke up I was here and James was standing over me."

Dumbledore surveyed her for a moment gauging her story.

"Well then Miss Granger, welcome to 1976. I'm sure this is all quite a shock to you."

"A bit sir. The last thing I expected was to be back at Hogwarts."

Dumbledore nodded.

"Miss Granger I'm afraid I have some bad news. I am unaware of any way you could be sent back to your time. Time turners only work to rewind time, I will do some research but I don't hold out much hope of finding anything."

Her reaction shocked Dumbledore completely.

"I wouldn't want to go back anyway. I've just been given a pass from hell and I have no intention of returning to it. In the time I left almost everyone I have ever known and loved is dead. I apologize because I know you're not going to appreciate this but there is no was in hell I'm going to allow all that to happen again."

Dumbledore surveyed her over his familiar half moon spectacles.

"I must warn you, however bad it might have seemed you have no way of knowing what could happen if you alter the timeline, things could get much worse."

Hermione snorted "you say that because you haven't seen the future. A month ago my parents were tortured and murdered because Voldemort was looking for me. The week after that the remainder of your Order was slaughtered when they were betrayed yet again. 5 minutes before I was thrown back here one of my best friends was killed in front of me and the other is, or was, probably dead and with him died the last hope of Riddle's demise. Voldemort controls everything, the Ministry, Gringotts - even Hogwarts. And the very worst thing sir, you're dead, murdered so a spy wouldn't be discovered. Muggles are slaughtered every day, whole towns wiped off the face of England. The United States is on the verge of launching a nuclear attack so Voldemort's cancer can't spread to the rest of the world. Things don't get much darker then I left them."

Hermione felt slightly bad seeing the expression on Dumbledore's face. The familiar twinkle had left his eyes and he sat heavily in a chair beside her hospital cot. He was silent for a full ten minutes before turning back to Hermione.

"I've never allowed myself to consider the Order would not be successful, I always assumed that in the end the light would prevail. What you say is true; I can see it in your mind. I apologize Miss Granger; I didn't know the world could get so dark. Voldemort is gaining power now but the Ministry doesn't consider him a real threat yet."

"You know better than that sir. You remember Tom Riddle; you know what he's become. He's a sociopath and he takes joy from the suffering of others, has since his days in the orphanage. He had so little humanity to begin with, and by the time he'd returned to apply for the defense position he had none left. There was nothing that could be done to prevent it, but you can stop him from destroying everything we know. Let me help you, I'll tell you everything I've learned since getting sucked into the middle of things 6 years ago. Death Eaters, their hideouts, traitors within the order, everything."

"Very well Miss Granger. I suppose there is little way to stop you sharing and acting upon your knowledge so it might go to hands in which it could do the most good. We will start next week. For now how old are you my dear?"

"Well I was 18 in my time, James told me it's September 19th which means it's my birthday, sort of, just not for another 3 years. This is so confusing I always hated time travel."

"Happy Birthday my dear. Time travel can be quite confusing. Did you attend your 6th year at Hogwarts or were you forced to run before that?"

"I finished 6th year, you were killed at the end of the year and Voldemort took over shortly after that."

"I'm going to assume you're a Gryffindor."

"Yes sir"

"All right then Miss Granger; we will call you a transfer from Beauxbatons. I must ask you to keep the truth a secret. If Voldemort should ever become aware what knowledge you posses he would stop at nothing to capture you. I will arrange for a timetable to be drawn up and will collect all the materials you will need. Since you have no parents or guardians if you will permit it I would like to fulfill that roll. I have no children or grandchildren and would be honored to give you a place in this time."

Hermione broke into a smile, what felt like and probably was the first in months.

"I would love that sir. Thank you."

"Well now that that's settled how about you get some rest; you look like you could use it. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will not release you until tomorrow so by the time you get to the Gryffindor common room your supplies will be waiting for you. My door is always open should you need something, and we will begin meeting about your knowledge sometime next week, I will send you a message about date and time. The password to my office is chocolate frogs."

Dumbledore rested his hand on her shoulder briefly before leaving a newly hopeful Hermione. She gave a small smile as she closed her eyes. Maybe this would be her chance to change the world for the better and give Harry the childhood he deserved.

Hey everyone, this is my first Harry Potter fic, hope you enjoy. I've been writing it for quite a while and will try to update about once a week – Mo