Warnings: death

AU! TIME TRAVEL. VOLDEMORT WINS.

Warnings: mentions of character death.

Written for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

House: Thunderbird

Class/Task Number: Runology. Ankh: birth or rebirth

Word Count: 1428/4500

Right Time, Wrong Body

When Voldemort wins, Hermione goes back in time to set things right. Surprisingly, she ends up being born as a baby.

"Are you sure about this, Miss Granger? Do you know what this means?" Unspeakable 13 asked her worriedly. His face was concealed within the folds of his hood, but Hermione could detect his nervousness.

"Yes, I'm aware of what this means. And yes, I'm sure about it. It's the only way of making things right," Hermione announced stoically. Her eyes were calm as she watched the Veil in front of her.

The Unspeakables and Hermione had been working for the past couple of years to find a way to right the wrongs committed by Lord Voldemort. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry had marched off into the forest, but he hadn't walked back out. Hagrid had brought his mutilated corpse back to the school, and the Death Eaters had all laughed at their pain and misery.

It had all gone downhill from there. In her fury, Ginny had screamed out curses and hexes at the Dark Lord himself, but she had failed to hurt him. Voldemort killed her in the blink of an eye, and that's when the Weasleys had all mutinied.

Hermione had witnessed Ron die in front of her eyes, his last words 'Save us, Mione' still echoing in her ears three years later. None of the Weasleys had persevered, neither had most of the professors or the students who were brave enough to fight back.

The only reason Hermione had survived was that someone had hit her over the head and she had collapsed. The Death Eaters who had passed by her hadn't troubled themselves to check if she was alive or dead. They had burned Hogwarts to the ground, and within the flames, Hermione had awoken, vengeance thrumming in her veins.

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, she had sworn to herself that she would discover a way to save her friends and family from their terrible fate… even if she needed to kill someone to achieve her goal.

She had met an Unspeakable a few weeks later. The man had recognized her from the newspapers, but he didn't apprehend her. Instead, he promised her he would help her with her goal, having lost both of his sons in the Battle. She tried to ask him his name, but he never told her. Until the day they arrived at the Department of Mysteries.

The other Unspeakables greeted him as Mr Lestrange, and Hermione was shocked to discover that the helpful old man was Bellatrix's father-in-law. She questioned him if he was leading her into a trap, but he said, "No, dear. I only want my sons back. I know I made a mistake asking them to join the Dark Lord. I wish to help you, that's all."

Against her better judgement, Hermione agreed.

And now, here she was: planning on returning to the past to set things right. She took a deep breath in, a hint of nervousness shining through her action. "Wish me luck," she muttered under her breath.

The team of Unspeakables who had all tirelessly struggled to make her trip to the past possible stood nearby, ready to watch their experiment succeed… or fail.

"Okay, you've got only a few seconds of time frame. Get ready, we'll open the portal," Unspeakable 48 called out to her.

Hermione nodded and said, "I'm ready."

"Miss Granger, you still have time… are you sure? You know you won't be able to come back here, right?" Unspeakable 13 was concerned.

"For the last time, yes! I'm sure about this! Don't try to change my mind," Hermione barked, annoyed.

"Alright then…"

"Okay, remember, whatever happens, don't panic. Make sure you go straight to the Unspeakables of the 1940s first. Do not speak to anyone before you inform the Unspeakables about what you're there to do," Unspeakable 72 instructed her one last time.

Hermione sighed but listened, she was getting annoyed by their reluctant behaviour to send her to the past. "I understand everything. Now, let's do this. The sooner I get there, the sooner I can change things," she stated.

"NOW!" Unspeakable 59 cried out as the moon finally rose to the exact coordinates they had needed to open the portal to the past.

Hermione sprinted towards the modified Veil which would serve her purpose of heading to the past. She vanished behind the Veil and the Unspeakables waited to see if anything would happen.

When nothing happened, they breathed out in relief.

A loud wailing sound woke Hermione from her slumber. She frowned and turned her head to look around. Where was that infernal noise coming from?

She found a black-haired, blue-eyed toddler in a small crib gazing at her curiously, and narrowed her eyes at him. What was she doing here with a child? She tried to stand up but she was unable to.

She looked down at herself and cried out in astonishment. Her hands were small and pudgy, her legs just as chubby, and she was dressed in a soft pink onesie. There was only one explanation for this: she was a baby!

She felt panic creeping up on her, but she remembered her training. Don't panic, she repeated to herself, and looked around the room to deduce where she was. There were a few babies and a couple of toddlers in various coloured cribs around the room. The walls were a sterile white colour which reminded her of all the hospitals she had ever been to in her life.

One of the babies wailed loudly, and a young woman of about twenty hurried in. "Shh… here," she whispered as she picked up the baby and fed him a bottle of milk.

Hermione watched silently, wondering how was she supposed to save the world as a baby. She soon got her answer.

The one-year-old child in the crib beside hers climbed out of his small prison when the woman left. He waddled over to her crib, reaching his small hand through the bars and curiously rubbing her soft head. He slowly smiled when Hermione sighed and nuzzled his hand. It felt so good being stroked like that, she realized.

"Tom, what are you doing?" the woman asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway.

Tom? What? Tom Riddle? Hermione turned her head to look at the boy, shocked at where the Fates had brought her. Was this beautiful child really the future Dark Lord? It seemed unbelievable to her when she compared his current actions to his future self's.

The boy didn't step away from her; he continued to caress her head with his little fingers. The woman came up to them and tried to pull Tom away from Hermione. She said, "Tom, leave her alone. You'll hurt her. She's just a newborn… come, you should sleep now."

But Tom was adamant that he wouldn't leave the newborn child's side. Somewhere, deep down in his heart, he knew she was like him, and he refused to step away from her. He tightened his fist around Hermione's hair, and she burst into tears at the pain.

For the first time in his short life, Tom acted out when he heard her screams of pain. He yelled and whirled around, kicking the woman's shin furiously. She smacked him immediately and cried, "Tom! What's gotten into you?"

Tom yanked his arm away from her grasp, and hastily climbed up the side of the crib. He fell inside with a soft thud, almost crushing Hermione's delicate body.

"Tom, be careful! Don't hurt her!" the woman cried out, terrified, but her fear was pointless. Tom carefully wrapped his little arms around the newborn Hermione and buried his face in her shoulder.

The woman gaped at him with surprise, as Tom had never shown any interest in anything before this. She watched with astonishment as he awkwardly patted the baby's head with his little hand to soothe her cries.

Hermione felt her eyes close with contentment at the feel of Tom's warm body pressed against hers, and she wondered if feeling safe in the future Dark Lord's arms was wrong. She had tried to come back in her 21-year-old body, but the Fates had something else in store for her.

If she had to start from the beginning as a baby in this life, she would look for the positives. She had Tom Riddle wrapped around her finger already. Maybe she could change his future by making herself a prominent part of his life.

For once in her life, Hermione Granger was going to do something that was not in her detailed plans. She was going to wing it.

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