Disclaimer: Nowhere in my name resides a J.

A/N: This story is part of my response to a grave lack of time travel fics in which Hermione is not the same age as whatever character she ends up being paired with; in other words, she's always conveniently the same age as her romantic interest/plot-important characters via time turner. This is one of two stories I am writing to address this lack and show that even though time travel is at our disposal, fate isn't always convenient.

Other common themes in time travel fanfiction I wish to avoid include maltreatment of and/or evil-from-birth Peter Pettigrew (he has such potential to be a multidimensional character with such an internal struggle and we all ignore that), infinitely helpful Granger (she is neither a perfect character nor a perfect fix-all simply through her existence), evil Lily (especially just to get her out of the way romance-wise, this is cruel and unrealistic without a really good portrayal or with a huge focus on her imperfections), and the phenomenon I like to call Suddenly the Same in which every character in the original Order guest stars as a Marauder's peer.

So, what will you be seeing in this fic? You'll be seeing Hermione a few years behind the Marauders. You'll see her admiration of Lily Evans and her scorn of pranks on innocent victims. You'll see a Peter faced with several critical decisions that define who he is and will be. You'll see the Marauders as the bullies Snape once knew and you'll see them mature. You'll see a past and present modified by the existence of one girl. And, hopefully, you'll see multifaceted characters with complex personalities I'm attempting to recreate, not just replicate. I hope you like my approach.

And without any further ado,

-.-.-

CHAPTER THE PROLOGUE

It was odd, she thought, that her time-turner hadn't been taken away quite yet. It hadn't been a full day since the whole Sirius Black fiasco and Ron was still in the infirmary, yes, but it seemed that Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore would have taken it from her to hide any possible evidence of a Hogwarts student being involved with his escape. Here she was, free already to walk around the grounds so long as she could avoid whatever dementors still lingered.

And so she walked. She walked by Hagrid's home while pondering about Professor Lupin's fate. She passed the Whomping Willow as she pondered what could have been hers and Harry's because of his lycanthrope. She wandered around the greenhouses as she hoped Mr. Black and Buckbeak made it away safely. She went across the vegetable patch as she feared over Ron's rat - Peter Pettigrew, the traitor, the murderer, the evil one who got away. She started walking along the Lake as she thought about Harry's happiness and how unlikely it was he'd get away from those damned Dursleys any time soon.

She had almost made her way to the wall that blocked the second half of the Great Lake's edges, thinking again about Sirius Black - the innocent Mr. Black, not the evil, devious man she'd thought him to be. The innocent Mr. Black who she'd saved, that is. Well, she and Harry, and a bit of Dumbledore, too - the sly old man that he was, giving her the chance to do something drastic and dangerous. Not that she regretted it, oh no. She could never regret doing something that put such a happy expression on Harry's face.

She glanced around and saw the tall, robed figure of one of her Professors - too far away to pinpoint which one, but the robe wasn't that of the uniform so it must have been a teacher. She turned away from the teacher, suddenly struck with a panic she couldn't identify, and quickly paced away. I hope the Professor didn't see me, she thought desperately as her heart raced and her steps hurried frantically as they could without running.

And then she tripped and fell and there was a crash and a shatter and a bang and she was tumbling on the ground and flying in the sky and splashing in the water and a tentacle was around her and then there was pain and it all went black.

Including her memory.