Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series.

Prologue

Hermione's POV

A blanket of a thousand twinkling stars crowded the deep blue sky overhead, innocently reflecting their magnificent beauty against the surface of the Black Lake. It was a painfully romantic picture to the heart broken girl sitting on the sandy, cold shore. Her legs were tucked securely against her chest, and her body shook silently as burning hot tears slipped down her chilled cheeks. How could he? Hermione Granger thought bitterly, her eyes a dark, smoldering brown. How could he do this to me? She absently chewed on her bottom lip as she stared into the obsidian depths of the lake. She wondered momentarily what it would feel like to sink into its freezing waves, allowing the water to engulf her as she floated down—way down to the bottom. Would it be any colder than she now felt? Would it make her numb? Hermione imagined that it wouldn't be so bad to feel numb right now. It would defiantly kill this horrible lonely ache in her chest. A bitter-sweet breeze swept across the shore, playing among her silky golden-brown tresses, and wrapping them around her wet cheeks. Hermione quickly pushed her hair behind her ear and sunk her chin into the arms wrapped around her knees.

She really never had saw it coming. After Voldemort's death, once the war had ended, and things had reconstructed themselves with a sense of normalcy Hermione and Ron's relationship had taken off. Of course it was, in its own sense, an expected thing. Especially after that passionate kiss they had shared in the tunnels connected to the chamber of secrets. It had been warm and clumsy, neither party aware of what they were doing, but in the moment it didn't matter. No not at all. In that moment only she and Ron had existed, and it had been blissfully wonderful amongst the chaos that had been ever so present in their world. It was normal, safe. At the time it seemed as though everything had come into crystal clear perspective. Therefore, naturally they had begun dating once they returned to the halls of a tattered Hogwarts. Hermione had found something with Ron, and she had fully committed herself to him. She was even wearing his damn promise ring! Ron, on the other hand, hadn't been so committed.

Hermione had suspected that there was something between him and Lavender, but she didn't want to believe it. She was just starting to piece her life back together. A horrible thing it was. After the war Hermione went back home to see her parents. She had thought about them often since her, Harry, and Ron's adventure had started. In the times where things seemed bleak she would remember how normal and safe her life had been before becoming a witch. How she never had to worry about dark magic, or being a muggle born, or Voldemort. It was a simpler time in which memories she would lavish in on those darker days. Yet as she had stood there, her hand levitated above the hard oak door, and her heart in her throat Hermione couldn't make herself knock. She had taken any memory of her existence away from them. They were safe without knowing her, and in the circumstance of a second war her mom and dad would again go untouched. In the end she couldn't risk them ever coming into the dangers of her world again, and so she left feeling horribly broken and alone.

So perhaps it was her selfishness that had blinded her so. She had desperately wanted to believe she wasn't alone despite all the warning signs—and there were plenty. Hermione saw the way he looked at her during dinners in the Great Hall. She saw them talking and laughing, watched as his eyes lit up every time Lavender smiled. She noticed the way Lavender's gaze would linger on his lips a few seconds too long, and how she would say farewell with an extended touch of his arm. Worst of all Hermione could see the look of longing on his face every time she left. She had noticed every bit of it, but she simply ignored it. Hermione had convinced herself that it was nothing, that if he didn't want her then they wouldn't be together. She had been wrong.

Damn had she been wrong. Hermione was aware of it, somewhere in the depths of her heart she had known, but she still couldn't prevent this awful empty ache in her heart. Perhaps if she hadn't found them that way, huddled together in the astronomy tower like that. If he had just broken up with her under a fair justification of differences. But when she had stumbled upon Ron with Lavender wrapped in his arms ever so tenderly, it had torn her to shreds. Then when Lavender moved to kiss him it was simply too much. Hermione had exited the tower quickly and quietly with a nauseated feeling in the pit of her stomach. Neither Ron nor Lavender had even noticed that she had been there, and Hermione supposed that was the only saving grace of the whole discovery. She didn't think she could tolerate any poorly planned excuses from her now ex-boyfriend. You jerk…

Of all things why did he have to cheat on her? Hermione wouldn't have caused a scene, didn't he know that? She would have backed down gracefully with what self-respect she had left. She wouldn't have cried and begged him not to leave her, she wouldn't have stopped them from being together. Hermione wasn't that type of girl. Why didn't he know that? Wiping her cheek against the rough wool sleeve of her sweater, Hermione felt for the golden band secured around her ring finger. The ring was smooth and cool under her finger tips, and seemed to make her heart sickly skip a beat. Her jaw set in a frigid manner, and her teeth grinded against one another. "Forget you Ronald Weasley!" Hermione yelled into the silence of the night as she ripped the ring off of her finger, and chucked it into the bottomless depths of the water. The band hit the surface with a miniature splash and a nearly inaudible ka-plunk! On some measure this made Hermione feel just a little bit better. Just a small fraction bit better.

She straightened her spine, and lifted her chin in a sense of satisfaction. It was petty, but the idea of Ron never getting that stupid ring back made her feel as though she had won something. A perpetual and formal way for her to say she got the better of him. He may have broken her heart, left her feeling utterly empty inside, but he would never have the pleasure of acquiring that ring for his precious Lavender. Forever that band would remain at the bottom of the lake as a reminder that they had been together, and that he had cared about her as he did for Lavender now. He had cared. He had at some point. There was no way he couldn't have. Hermione's shoulders fell, and her burst of anger quickly dissipated. That horrid empty feeling was back. Maybe he hadn't cared. Maybe it was all just a façade that he had simply went along with so that he wouldn't hurt her feelings. Maybe he thought it was some kind of obligation. Good God had any of it even been real?

Fresh hot tears rolled down her cheeks as grim reality began to kick in. He had never loved her, at least not the way she wanted him to. Hermione ran a hand through her thick brown hair, breathing the cool, crisp lake air deep into her lungs. She was crying over something that was never hers… No. That wasn't it. This pathetic display was because all this time she truly had been alone. Ron had never had feelings for her, he wasn't her salvation from that all-consuming loneliness. All this time she had managed to convince herself that so long as he was by her side she would be okay, but the truth was nothing more than an absolute contradiction of that sweet little lie. Nothing is more lonely that unrequited love. Especially when it had been so real to her. Gazing up into a clear, endless night sky Hermione lost her thoughts within that dark vastness. Her selfish ignorance had cost her a good friend, and she was painfully aware of this mistake.

Absently her fingers lightly traced the contours of the time turner hanging loosely around her neck. If only she could turn the hands of time back far enough for her to fix this entire mess. Even as she thought about this Hermione knew that it wasn't possible. The time turner could only go back a few days in the past, never had she been able to go any farther than that. So those taunting thoughts were nothing more than wishful thinking. Yet she could still entertain the idea. If this could take her back to a year ago then she could stop herself from ever getting involved with him, save the both of them this heartbreak. Better yet, she could travel fifty years into the past and put a stop to—a then—young Voldemort. If she could do that then so many lives could be spared. Harry's parents could have raised their baby boy, Fred wouldn't have had to die, and she or any other muggle born would never have to worry about being hunted down like animals. Most importantly Hermione wouldn't be facing this lifetime of abandonment. She would be able to see her mom and dad again without worries, she could have had a normal, fulfilling time during her years in Hogwarts, and even find another wizard whom would invest in her as she did in Ron. Everyone's lives could be significantly changed for the better if only she could travel that far back.

Releasing a defeated sigh Hermione dropped her hand to the side, and concentrated on the starry universe overhead. Ron was supposed to be here right now, the two of them waiting to see the splendor of a meteor shower that only took place every fifty years. She had been particularly excited about this night. Supposedly, according to an ancient history book she once read this specific event was named Celeste's Shower. The story was beautiful tragedy that Hermione had never forgotten.

Thousands of years ago Celeste, a witch who was of the first magical covenant, fell in love with a mortal man. However, being one of the first magical beings to appear in history Celeste was expected to wed another pureblood such as herself. It was the only way to ensure their dying magical blood line would survive, but she refused to marry her suitor Lord Bartholomew, because she did not love him. In turn he became bitter, and resentful toward Celeste's decision to let the blood line fall extinct. His hatred would consume him, until at last he killed the mortal and cursed Celeste to a life of misery. This was perhaps the first dark magic that had ever been used. The curse caused any man that she remotely cared about to die, forcing her to marry the lord out of pure loneliness.

Her marriage to Bartholomew was as miserable as the curse itself, but Celeste had never forgotten her time with her one true love. Finally once she had bared the despicable lord a son Celeste would end her own life in order to be reconnected with her deceased love. It was the only way for her to break the curse. Legend has it that the night she died the entire sky was lit up with a magnificent meteor shower. Some say that this was Celeste's promise to help every lost soul find their one true love. From then on throughout history there were hundreds of reports of people magically finding their soul mates during Celeste's Shower.

Hermione had looked forward to this night, because before discovering the betrayal she had been convinced that Ron was her one and only. The shower would have had a special meaning for the both of them, but now it was simply a reminder that they were not meant to be. Why was her life always so complicated? While she contemplated this question Hermione leaned her weight into her arms, and tilted her head backwards to stare absently (and quite literally) into space. After a few intense moments of thought something out of the ordinary caught her eye. Passing over her head was a sphere of light surrounded in cold, blue fire and white stardust. Gracefully and soundlessly it flew through the atmosphere followed by another, and yet another. One at a time these shooting stars graced the dark night sky with their majestic presence, and then came two at a time, and three. Suddenly the entire sky was filled with bundles of blue fire and stardust. Hermione's mouth dropped open in awe at the display, and for the longest time she simply sit there in disbelief of the thousand year old spectacle.

It wasn't until she was completely enveloped in a shimmering cloud of white light that Hermione suddenly realized something was wrong. Eyes wide Hermione watched partly in terror and partly in pure shock as the time turner was lifted from her neck, and began to turn on its very own. An overwhelming sense of warmth surrounded her, and the light that was consuming her became unbearably bright. So bright that she had to close her eyes. That was the last thing Hermione Granger could remember before succumbing to the darkness.

A/N: Thank you for reading, and please leave any comments below! :)