Tempore et Spatio

Chapter 1

"Can you be good for máthair, mo grá?" Minerva asks the small child with unshed tears pooling in her eyes. "You remember what to do right?" The small child nods and smiles up at her máthair. She was dressed differently than usual, her square rimmed glasses weren't perched on her nose making it much easier to see her beautiful green eyes. Her hair was pulled back into a series of tight braids pinned to her head. The girl thought her mother looked beautiful, well she always did, but now especially. Little did the child know, her mother was dressed and ready for war. Lord Voldemort had killed the Potters and Longbottoms to prevent the prophecy from ever coming true and his followers were on a killing spree. Muggles and wizards, it didn't matter. If you would not swear loyalty to the so called Dark Lord you were killed. That is if your blood was pure enough. The Order was fighting but the chances of surviving, let alone winning were next to none.

Minerva hands the girl a small bag with some necessities and a letter. "Make sure you give this back to mommy when you see me next okay?" Minerva says crouching down to look into her eyes. "It's a game and if you give it back to máthair you'll win." Several tears slip over dark lashes and onto pale cheeks. "I love you so, so much." Minerva presses a kiss to the curly haired child and slippes a golden necklace around her small neck. The necklace fell to the bottom of the girl's belly and she immediately picked it up and started playing with it. The low light of the hallway reflecting off the gold surface making it appear as if it was glowing.

"Pretty!" The little girl smiles as she holds it in her hand. "Like máthair." A watery smiles appears on Minerva's face. "Thank you little one." Minerva kisses her head again and pulls out her wand, pointing it at the necklace around the girl's neck. "Remember darling, máthair will always love you, for now and the rest of time." She whispers, "Per tempus et spatium…. I love you darling." The girl hears her mother's broken voices before her entire world swirls around her then goes black. A sob escapes Minerva's lips as she sees her only child disappear. She cries for some time in the hallway of Hogwarts before collecting herself. "There's a war to fight." Straightening her robes, Minerva stands and turns to meet the Order for their last stand.

"Minerva love, it's been far too long." Minerva spins around her wand drawn, the sight she sees chills her blood and stops her heart. Tom Riddle standing at the other end of the hall, his inner circle surrounding him… Albus' body at his feet.

"ALBUS!" Minerva screams seeing his body thrown onto the floor like a sack of flour. Riddle's laugh fills the now quiet hallway.

"Oh, Minerva I do hope you put up a better fight than the rest of them did, it was almost too easy." He mocks. "Shall we duel? One on one?" Tom pulls out his wand and steps over Albus' body heading towards Minerva. Taking several deep breaths, Minerva steadies herself. She knew there was no way she was getting out alive, but she would take as many of them as she possibly could with her. Tom stops only a dozen paces away from her and bows slightly. "Come now, bow to your opponent Minerva, it is tradition, and we wouldn't want to break tradition." A wicked smile forms on his face as he mocks her. Minerva bows slightly to him, not taking her eyes off of him for a second. He places his hand over his heart. "You wound me." He mocks.

"Oh, I intend to Tom." Minerva says with more confidence than she feels. The room grows still at Tom fixes his eyes on Minerva.

"I am Lord Voldemort!" He rages. "Tom Riddle was my disgusting muggle father's name!" He seethes at Minerva who smirks, only further increasing his ire.

"Poor baby." She mocks in a high tone, as if she was speaking to a baby. He growls and throws a curse at her. She dodges and throws up a protego giving her time to murmur several spell, not directed towards Tom, but towards the walls. She figures if she can bring the castle down on them it should be enough… Hopefully. Her protego is quickly shattered and she's sent flying back by a harsh stinging spell. As her body collides with the stone floor all the air leaves her lungs, out of reflex Minerva casts another protego only to have it abruptly bombarded by several spells. Taking a deep breath Minerva stands and fights, stumbling as she regains her balance, a small trickle of blood running down her cheek. Shaking her head Minerva fights Tom head on for a moment, murmuring when she can the spells to disrupt the wards holding this section of Hogwarts up. Tom laughs and sneers at her. "Is this the best you've got? It's no wonder my followers were able to capture you two years ago."

"Or maybe it was all part of the plan Tom, ever wonder what happen to your beloved ring?" A look of pure shock flits over his face quickly followed by unbridled rage. A particularly nasty curse is throw at Minerva and she shouts the final spell to bring the castle down on top of them. The walls around them shake as Minerva is thrown backwards by the killing curse, her last thoughts of her precious daughter. Minerva's body hits the ground and rolls like a rag doll, her once bright green eyes dim and cold, her hair mussed around her head almost like a halo. Her grave, the hallowed stones of Hogwarts that comes crashing down on top of them, burying them all beneath the stones. Their final resting place.

Shivering miserably the small girl wakes and sits up. Her bag had fallen and her toys and things were everywhere. "Oooh, messes, máthair not like messes." She grumbles and picks it all up and places them back in her tartan bag. A beautifully stitched HM on the bottom left corner. Wiping her runny nose on the corner of her sleeve she begins walking down the hall to her mother's office. Unfortunately, the hallways are not as she remembers and hours go by without luck. Sliding to the ground the small child sobs, calling for her mother. "Máthair!" But there was no response. Pulling out her stuffed bear and cuddling with it the little girl sobs.

"Hee, hee. Just wait till they come out tomorrow! Then they'll know what Peeves is made of!" Peeves the Poltergeist giggles with glee as he floats down the hallway, away from his latest scheme. The sobbing child looks up.

"Pevy!" The small child calls out. Stopping mid flight the ghost looks down at the small child and tilts his head to the side in confusion.

"Pevy? I am not Peavy, I am Peeves the Poltergeist!" He says offended, causing the small child to giggle.

"Oh, hush Pevy. Can you take me to máthair? Pees? I'm lost and can't find her." Her bottom lip trembles slightly as she looks up at the poltergeist with her dark green eyes. "A-and I'm cold and hungry!" Something within Peeves softens at the sight of this adorable child, all but begging for his help.

"Of course I will." He says more gently than he'd ever spoken before. "Who's your mommy?"

"Minerva." She says softly, wiping her eyes. A snort of disbelief escapes his lips then he laughs. When she scowls at him he clarifies.

"Minerva McGonagall?" He whispers. She only nods. "Oookay little girl. This way." If the kid was crazy what did it matter to him. Floating slowly by the child he takes her to Minerva's classroom, classes were over and she would be there grading papers. "Right through this door kid, your 'mommy' should be in there." He floats away, giggles erupting from his lips as he thinks of his schemes.

"Thanks!" She smiles at him and pushes on the door, frowning when it doesn't budge. She tries again and it doesn't move. Getting angry at the door she waves her hand at it, smiling happily when the door flies open. Running through she spots Minerva. "Máthair!" She yells and runs to Minerva as fast as her little legs will take her, tears starting to stream down her faces as she runs. Minerva is standing by her bookshelf and turns when she hears a voice. All she sees is a mass of curly brown hair before two small arms are wrapped around her leg hugging her tightly. She stumbles back and looks down shocked at the small child now sobbing into her leg. "Cén fáth ar fhág tú dom?! Bhí mé scanraithe! Beidh mé go maith, beidh mé go maith ní hamháin go bhfuil saoire dom!" (Why did you leave me?! I was so scared! Please don't leave me, I'll be good, I'll be good.)

Minerva is even more shocked when the little girl starts speaking fluent Gaelic. She picks up the distraught girl and holds her tightly against her chest. "Shh, shh, tá sé ar cheann beag ceart go leor." (Shh, shh, there, there wee one it's all right.) Minerva rubs her back soothingly as she casts a warming charm on the shaking/shivering child. She sits down in her desk chair, transfiguring it into a rocking chair and slowly rocks the child to help calm her down. After quite some time the small girl calms down enough to pull back and look at Minerva. Her heart skips a beat when Minerva finds herself looking into eyes that could mirror her own.

"Why did you leave me alone máthair? I-I thought we were just playing, t-then I couldn't find you." She sniffs again, her lower lip trembling. Minerva carefully rubs her back.

"Who are you little one?" Minerva asks gently, causing the little girl's eyes to narrow with irritation.

"I'm Hermione, máthair. Duh. Oh!" Hermione grabs her bag and hands her mother the letter smiling triumphantly. "I win the game!" Hermione frowns as her tummy rumbles loudly. Once again making it know that it needs to be fed. She sticks her hand in her bag, her tongue sticking out the side as she does, and rummages around for a moment before pulling out a bottle of milk. "Make it hot máthair." She hands it to a very confused Minerva who quickly casts a warming charm on it and hands it back. Hermione settles down in her mother's lap, cradling herself against Minerva's chest and starts sucking on the bottle, her eyes closing as she does. Minerva's heart swells with love for this unknown child as she grabs the letter, hoping it will explain a thing or two.

Dear Minerva,

The small child, no doubt cuddled up in your arms, is your daughter. She is your daughter just from a different time line. In this timeline Tom and his followers have taken control of the ministry and will no doubt be coming for Hogwarts very shortly. It's only a matter of time before he makes it here to complete his conquest of the Wizarding world. I cannot let him get to my only daughter, the joy of my life. I've sent her across time and space to a time line with a better future. You should find around her neck my time turner, I don't know if you help create them or not, but in my timeline I was the one to create them several years ago. By the time you are reading this I am most likely dead and Hogwarts fallen, the world as I know it no more.I just could not leave her to be killed or raised by god know what. I'm sure you will come to love her as if you gave birth to her, she is a brilliant child who love to learn, even at this young of an age. I have no doubt you will raise her well, make sure you tell her you love her often. For me?

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall.

There was one thing Minerva never expected to happen in her live and this was it. Receive a letter from herself, but from a different time line. "Oh I hate dealing with time." Minerva mumbles as she flicks through the other were several other pages filled with medical records, likes and dislikes, favorite things to do, and a brief summary of Hermione's live. It seems that the other Minerva was captured and became pregnant after being raped by a random death eater.

Looking down at the little life in her arms Minerva smiles. Hermione had fallen asleep drinking her bottle, her brow and cheeks moving as she dreams. Minerva gently takes the bottle out of her mouth and sets it down, standing up to gently rock the small child. Hermione immediately adjust to cradle herself better in her mother's arms and snuggles close. "I have a daughter." Minerva smiles brightly as she strokes Hermione's baby soft cheeks. Hermione starts to fuss, flailing her arms about and smacking her lips. "Uuuh." Minerva quickly rummages around in the bag and finds her pacifier and gently slips it into the girl's mouth. She settles immediately, the pacifier bobbing up and down gently as she sucks.

"That's better isn't it mo grá?" Minerva coos softly to Hermione heading into her personal chambers and to her room. Knowing there would be lots to do in the morning regarding the child, Minerva quickly transfigures her clothing into some pjs and Hermione's before crawling in bed and holding Hermione tightly to her chest. The soft thump of her heart beat resonating in Minerva's chest and bringing a sense of fulfillment she'd always longed for. "Is breá liom tú." Minerva whispers against her mass of chocolate brown curls, her own eyes closing as she drifts off to sleep, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

A.N. Please review.

Is breá liom tú- I love you

mo grá- my love