Disclaimer: I neither own nor make a profit from Harry Potter or Naruto. This is a fan work written for fun.

Spoilers: Everything for Harry Potter, including the epilogue. For Naruto, everything up to and including Kakashi's death.

Pairing: Eventual Hermione/Kakashi

Rating: T for the moment, the rating will probably be changed to M later on.

Summary: Between life and death a chance meeting leads to something neither could have imagined; a chance to fix what went wrong.

Author's Notes: Firstly, in all honesty, this was inspired by the scenes between Sakumo and Kakashi when Kakashi is between life and death. I don't know if anybody else noticed or if it was all in my mind, but it was markedly similar to the scene at Kings Cross between Harry and Dumbledore.

Secondly, that said, I have a certain take on how the Naruto universe and the Harry Potter universe can coexist which will eventually be revealed. Until the exact reasoning is revealed, one should think of them as two separate dimensions which are tied together.

Thirdly, I know this is the old cliché of the time travel fic. Honestly, who can resist writing at least one?

Fourthly, any romance between Hermione and Kakashi is a long time coming. They won't get together quite a while.

Fifthly, my other stories have not been abandoned. My muse and I are just still in negotiations about how they will go.

Sixthly, Ortrera is a woman from Greek mythology. Her use will make sense eventually. As will the thing about Cassandra.

Seventh, some lines near the end were taken from issue 449 of the Naruto manga, as appropriate.

Prologue

This was not, Hermione acknowledged-if only in her mind-a position she had expected to be in at this point in her lif-uh, existence. During the war, she'd lived with the knowledge that it was likely she would not survive to see its end. And after the war ended, Hermione had allowed herself to believe that she would die of old age.

It seemed that neither prediction was true.

She had not died in battle. Nor, for that matter had she died of old age. Rather, she had died in childbirth at the age of twenty six.

Admittedly, her death had been helped along quite a bit. But that was beside the point. At least the kids were still alive.

A wave of sorrow hit Hermione at that. Yes, Teddy and James and Albus still lived but not Rose. By the time Hermione had gone into premature labor, Rose was already dead. Her baby had died before she had even had a chance to live.

With that thought, her knees gave out.

"There you are," said a man as he knelt down beside Hermione.

Hermione stared for several long moments as her mind refused to believe the sight before her. Finally, she whispered, "Fred?"

"Good to see you too, Hermione," he said.

She blinked, taking in the sight of him. He looked the same as he had when he'd died, nearly eight years before. "What are you doing here?" She blushed at the stupidity of her question. "Sorry. Of course you're here. You're dead."

"Where do you think we are?" asked Fred as he gently helped her to stand.

"This is the afterlife, right?"

"Yes and no. This is a way station of sorts. Where one stays before moving on to the afterlife."

"Oh. So when do I get to move on?"

"You don't. At least, not until all is decided."

"What do you mean?"

"Right now, you're between life and death. Until you go back or move on, you can't go anywhere." Fred offered her his arm. "Let's go for a walk."

"Ok," she said, leading him into the large forest. "But if I'm between life and death, what are you? You died."

"I'm waiting for George. Don't want to move on without him, you know."

Kakashi spoke for what felt life hours, telling his father about everything that had happened since his death. He first heard it as he told of the events leading up to his death. The sound of a person walking through deep undergrowth is distinct. The sound of two people even more so. Two people, one with some knowledge of woodcraft, judging by how light the steps were, the other clomped along, clearly with little care of the noise made. Highly unlikely they were shinobi. The duo was too far for a more in depth analysis without using chakra to enhance his senses.

While Kakashi stilled at the sound, Sakumo smiled. "We are not the only ones on this plane of existence. They are not a threat."

There was a feminine squeal followed closely by deep masculine laughter. A moment later, the source of the heavier footsteps began to run, crashing through undergrowth without a thought of concealment.

"You git," shouted a woman. "I'm going to get you for that!"

Kakashi tilted his head to the side. He had understood the words as if they were Japanese, though he knew they had sounded wrong.

"Have to catch me first!" said the male.

Sakumo let out a small laugh. "I see Fred's found a new victim."

"Fred?"

"Weasley Frederick. He's a practical joker. The man's a civilian who died in battle his people's most recent civil war nearly a decade ago."

"Get back here!" yelled the woman as the footsteps approached their camp.

A moment later a tall, red haired man burst into the small clearing. He was looking behind him as he ran, which was why is was no surprise when the man tripped over a root and fell, landing in front of the two Hatake men face down. A woman ran out of the forest, nearly tripping over the man as she skidded to a stop.

The woman was rather pretty, decided Kakashi, though not what anyone would call stunning. The shape of her face was decidedly different from what he was used to, particularly her eyes and her shin was very pale with a pink tint to it that he'd never seen before. Her wild brown curls were long and loose, only adding to her exotic appearance. What little of body shape could be seen made it clear she was civilian. She seemed to have no muscle definition at all. The woman wore a dress of unfamiliar make which allowed only her face, hands, and shod feet to be seen, even when soaked so thoroughly it dripped as she moved.

"What did you do this time, Fred?" asked Sakumo.

The woman growled, kicking the man in the side. "He pushed me in a river."

"Oh come on, Hermione," said the man as he winced, carefully sitting up. "You slipped."

"Yes, but you're the one who helped me slip."

"Oh, hullo Sakumo. This is my sister-in-law, Hermione Weasley. She's married to my younger brother," explained Fred as he stood. "Hermione, this is Hatake Sakumo."

"A pleasure to meet you," Hermione said, though her expression made it clear she found their presence somewhat foreboding.

"You're shivering," said Sakumo, standing. "Come sit before the fire, Weasley-san."

"Thank you," said Hermione, allowing his father to lead her to a log.

"Fred, Weasley-san, this is my son, Hatake Kakashi."

"Haven't seen you around before," said Fred. "How long have you been here?"

"A couple hours," Kakashi found himself saying.

"What happened?"

"Fred, be polite," said Hermione, as she held her hands out in front of the fire.

"I died in battle."

"So you're a soldier, then?" said Hermione, her interest obviously peaked.

"We were both shinobi, ma'am," said Sakumo.

"Shinobi?" The term seemed to confuse her.

"They're a bit of a cross between hitwizards and mercenaries, except more loyal to their country than the Aurors," explained Fred.

"Oh, I guess… that makes sense."

"So, what were you?" asked Kakashi, more annoyed than he cared to admit by this interruption into his time with his father. He calmed himself with the knowledge that now, he and his father had all the time in the world.

"My twin and I owned a shop which sold joke supplies," said Fred.

"Well, I was an Obliviator until I retired a couple months ago," explained Hermione. "For the past couple of months I've been working for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, but I was thinking of transferring to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in a couple years once… once Rose was old enough for school."

And that was when the woman began to sniffle. Fred handed her a handkerchief.

"Merlin's balls," muttered Fred as he turned to glare at Kakashi. "I just got her mind off it and there you go and remind her."

"Remind her of what?" Kakashi chose to focus on Fred rather than the crying woman beside him.

"Hermione ended up in here because-"

"I died in childbirth," interrupted the woman.

"Technically, you're not dead yet," pointed out Fred.

"What?" said Sakumo.

"Her body's in a coma and she can go either way right now," explained the redhead. "But the child she was carrying died before she even went into labor."

"Her name was Rose," ground out Hermione.

After her outburst, Hermione lost the energy needed to argue. It just wasn't worth it. She drifted, thinking of Rose as the men around her spoke. She wasn't sure how long her mind had wandered when she felt something upon her shoulder. Hermione jumped, unable to stop herself.

"Are you alright?" asked the man Hermione thought was Kakashi.

It was strange, she decided, to hear him speak in Japanese yet be able to understand his words. She supposed it was a side effect of their current state.

"My daughter's dead," she said bitterly. "How do you think I am?" Hermione let out a sigh. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you."

"No apology necessary."

"Fred, is Rose in the afterlife?"

Her normally carefree brother-in-law shook his head sadly. "Since she died before she could be born, she's probably already being reincarnated."

"What?"

"Most of the time, we get the choice of going to the afterlife or reincarnation, but in cases like Rose, it's almost always automatic reincarnation," explained Sakumo.

"Oh."

Kakashi sat down between Hermione and Sakumo on the log she shared with Fred.

"When will I know if I go back or not?" asked Hermione.

"It's not like that," said Fred. "Unless Ron has you taken off life support, you have the option or going back. You can go back to your body now or you can wait until you're ready. Or if you really want to, you can move on to the afterlife."

"What?"

"You're in a unique position. Most don't get that option." Her brother-in-law motioned toward Kakashi. "He's like you, with his body in a coma and the potential to go either way. But unlike you, he doesn't get to make the choice himself."

"Why not?" demanded Kakashi.

"Because, Hermione and Fred are Wizarding and we are not," explained Sakumo.

"What does Wizarding mean?"

"The Wizarding are descended from Ortrera and as a result posses a fraction of her power," said Sakumo. "From what I understand, that power has become something of a Kekkei Genkai for the Wizarding."

Kakashi took a deep breath as his eyes widened. It seemed he understood what his father was referencing.

"Can I go back to right after I lost consciousness?" asked Hermione.

"You can go back to whenever you want," admitted Fred.

"Whenever I want?" she echoed. "Does that include before the attack?"

Fred let out a sigh. "You can go back to any point in your life, but there's a price to everything."

"What do you mean?" asked Kakashi, who sounded completely uninterested, though Hermione was sure that he was figuratively on the edge of his seat.

"Do you remember the seer Cassandra?"

"A princess of Troy. The sister of Hector and Paris, right?"

"Yes, her. She was a true seer, however the first time around she kept her visions quiet, refusing to warn the people of Troy. When she died, she ended up between life and death like you. She chose to go back, not knowing that the price would be that nobody believed her warning of the future or her visions. You know the rest."

"How did you know that?"

"Beedle the Bard isn't the only source of stories among the Wizarding. Cassandra is one of the people central to our history and mythology."

"Would that be the price I would pay as well?"

Fred shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think it would be the same price, but I can't be sure. She's the only person in history or legend I can think of who did something like that. But all that means is that nobody else revealed what they did, if they did indeed go back. Or they weren't believed, I suppose."

"Can you take me back as well?" Kakashi showing some emotion other than boredom for the first time since she'd met him.

"Can I?"

"I don't know," said Fred. "I really don't."

"Why do you want to go back?" asked Hermione.

"I've made mistakes," he said simply. "Just take me back. We don't have to see each other after that. You do whatever it is you're planning and I'll fix my mistakes."

"Fred, do you trust Mr. Hatake-the elder Mr. Hatake?"

"Of course. He's a good guy."

"Mr. Hatake, do you trust your son not to attempt to take over the world or commit genocide or something equally stupid?"

"Yes," said Sakumo, sounding somewhat offended that she'd even asked the question.

"What mistakes do you want to fix?"

Kakashi gave her a look which made it clear this was not something hw wished to discuss, before admitting, "A friend died because of my... arrogance. I broke a promise. I failed as a teacher."

"How far back do you want to go?" asked Hermione, interupting beofre Kakashi could continue. She'd heard enough to know he truely regretted these "mistakes," to know that he'd spoken of these events only because he felt he'd no other choice.

"Back to when I was thirteen. About seventeen years," explained Kakashi.

"Lovely. Nine was such a fun age," Hermione said somewhat sarcastically. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she sighed. "I guess it will give me more time to plan. So, how do I take us back?"

"You just have to want to go back. To will yourself back into your body, keeping the when in the forefront."

"Right." Hermione stood, brushing out her skirt.

"Dad," Kakashi said suddenly, "Regardless of what happened, you did the best you could. I understand now… You broke the rules for all of our sakes-I'm proud of you now."

"Thank you," said Sakumo, leaving Hermione to wonder what those words meant.

"Are you ready to go?" asked Hermione.

"Yes," nodded Kakashi.

"Around when seventeen years ago do you want to go back to?" she asked. "I'm not sure how accurate this will be."

"About seventeen and a half years. Around the solstice would be good," he said after a moment of deliberation.

"Alright. I should hold your hand I guess. The physical connection would probably make it easier. You just concentrate on that solstice all those years ago while I try to figure this out. Fred, thanks. I'll give you some prank suggestions or something."

"Se me up on a date with Parvati instead," he said.

"What? I thought you and Alicia…"

"Nah. That was just a teammate thing. You know, don't let your teammate go unescorted to events or balls. And Parvati has quite the sense of humor."

"I'll take your word for it."

Hermione took the hand Kakashi offered, clutching it tightly with both her hands. She closed her eyes as she did as Fred suggested. The forest faded away as she focused on the date Kakashi had suggested. This had to be, she decided, one of the most foolhardy things she'd ever done.