Chapter Text
The war was over, but The Side Of The Light had paid a terrible price. Hermione Granger had watched in horror as, one by one, her friends, her loved ones and her beloved were cut down in battle, until only she and Harry Potter remained.
And then he had died, taking Voldemort with him, leaving her alone, with the choice of either rebuilding a society in tatters, or rejoining her partner by putting an end to her misery once and for all.
But Hermione was not known was the smartest witch in a generation for nothing, and she knew there was a third option - to go back and stopped the war before it started.
After sitting through the funerals of all those she had lost, she decided that anything would be better than this, so she went home, locked herself in her room and began the spell that would send her back to the past.
xoxox
"Thank god" She thought, as Harry led her in to the final "trap" that Snape had prepared to protect The Philosopher's Stone. Although she had enjoyed seeing all her friends alive, redoing her first year at Hogwarts had nearly driven her insane. Even though she was the smartest witch of her generation, pretending to be a twelve year old muggle-born who was new to magic was not all that easy, and the fact her partner wouldn't be in the school for a whole year didn't help either.
The occasional night time trips out of the castle to take care of the various horcruxes that were dotted around the country had helped, and they were now in a bag, fastened to her belt, waiting for her to carry out her plan.
She made a pretence at reading through the scroll in front of her, then turned to Harry.
"Okay - it's that one" She said, pointing to the one she knew would let him continue. As he turned to take it, she stunned him, modified his memory, and laid him down on the ground. She reached in to his robes, and pulled out his wand, and stuck it in to her belt, then she picked up the potion herself, drank it, and walked in to the chamber.
"Hey Professor" She said, waving at Quirrell.
"Miss Granger?" Quirrell turned and stared at her "What are you doing here"
"I have come to help you find The Stone" She smiled at the look of confusion on his face "And to tell Voldemort about a prophecy that relates to him"
"HOW DARE YOU SPEEK HIS NAME, YOU FILTHY MU..." Quirrell's rant was cut off in mid flow as Hermione walked over and slapped him.
"Look - you can either work with me, and have your Lord back to his full strength by this evening, or I will destroy The Stone now, and you can do what you like"
"Trust the girl" came a hissing voice from under Quirrell's turban, and Quirrell nodded. Hermione smiled, walked over to the mirror and cast an extraction charm she had learned. Originally it had been used to pull the last horcrux out of Nagini, but she knew it would be adaptable. When the spell finished, she took The Stone and handed it to Quirrell. He took it, smiled, and then placed it on the ground.
Hermione watched with interest as he pulled out his wand, and started chanting a spell over The Stone. A moment later, Voldemort's voice joined in, and the words interleaved themselves, creating what was actually a nice harmonic effect. As the tempo of the spell increased, the air around The Stone began to dance with colours of every hue.
A few minutes later, she smiled as a ghostly figure appeared next to Quirrell, and began to get more and more corporeal as the spell continued.
"Eltana Exum Finite" Quirrell called out. At the same time, the voice of Voldemort hissed something that Hermione presumed was Parseltongue, and the figure became solid.
"Elixa Transmutem" Quirrell said softly, and then smiled as a cloud of mist flew out of his mouth, merged with a shining beam of light coming from The Stone, and flew in to the waiting body of Tom Riddle. As the light faded, she took the bag from her belt, and placed it on the ground infront of her.
"Ahhhhh" Voldemort said "This feels good" He looked down at Hermione "Why would a mudblood help me"
"Because I want to be alive at the end of the war" She smiled sweetly "My Lord - you don't yet have your wand, and should not be unprotected" She held up hers, then pointed at the bag on the floor "Take mine"
Voldemort stared at her for a moment, then took the wand she offered. Turning it over in his hands, he smiled.
"Thank you, Miss Granger" He turned, and - pointing the wand at her, he smiled "You really should learn not to be so trusting, mudblood. AVADA KEDAVRA!" A burst of green light burst from the wand. Hermione merely smiled, and threw the bag she was holding in between them. She continued to stare at Voldemort, so while she didn't get to see the bag explode in a multi-coloured ball of flame, she watched as Voldemort sunk to his knees, gasping as six parts of his soul were destroyed "What have you done to me girl"
"Hey - you destroyed your horcruxes, Tom, not me" She said with a smile, then she pulled Harry's wand out of her belt "Time to say goodnight" She levelled the wand at him, and then - thinking of everyone she had lost - she poured her hate and loathing in to two simple words.
"AVADA KEDAVRA"
xoxox
"So, Miss Granger, tell us what happened" Dumbledore was sat behind his desk, facing the three students who had gone down to confront Quirrell.
"Well - I got the potion wrong, and Harry was knocked unconscious" She said, then turned to her friend "Sorry about that"
"S'okay"
"Then I took his wand, as a backup in case I lost mine, and went on to stop Quirrell. But he already had The Stone, and was bringing Voldemort back" She paused "My wand was summoned before I could stop it, but I kept Harry's safe"
"Good thinking" Dumbledore smiled.
"Then Quirrell apparently had an attack of guilt, because when Voldemort was returned, Quirrell turned on him, and they both killed each other with... a green spell"
"The Killing Curse" Dumbledore replied "A very wicked spell indeed"
"Well - when they were both dead, I took their wands, then came back to get Harry" She frowned "I was worried about him and Ron, being all alone" She didn't mention that she spent a few minutes using Harry's wand to levitate things around the chamber, to make sure the Killing Curse it had cast couldn't be detected.
"Well Miss Granger, I believe that you got off very lucky indeed" The Headmaster smiled "And I will make sure to mention your bravery in my report to The Ministry"
"Thank you sir" She looked up at him "I am just glad he is dead"
"As are we all. You may all return to The Tower now"
xoxox
As she walked back to The Tower, she smiled to herself as she thought of the one student she most wanted to see again.
"Maybe I can go visit her this summer at her father's newspaper" She thought to herself.
"Hey - Mione - hurry up will you?" Ron yelled out. She looked up, and smiled again. For the first time, in a long time, the future looked good.
xoxox
Next time : "There's No Place Like Home"