Chapter Text
Pop
Hermione Granger and Harry Potter appear in an old worn-down shed in the middle of the countryside gasping for air and shaking. They grasp each other in a hug, glad to see the other one in mostly one piece.
“He’s gone” Hermione mutters, looking down at her hand to find a bag dangling from her fingers that had seconds ago been attached to Draco Malfoy.
“What the bloody hell do we do now?” Harry asks, looking to the closest thing he had to a sister for advice once more. Hermine shakes her head looking around the room knowing that they don’t have long before the Muggles manage to track them down once more.
“We um... We have to,” she says, shaking her head clear. Merlin none of this was going to plan. She lets out a laugh of disbelief. “We can restart the process. You can come with me instead”
“Granger look,” Draco says, crossing the tent and dumping an old Black Family grimoire onto her lap. Hermione sighs pausing in healing the cut on her arm to glare at Malfoy. Looking down at the texts she quickly gets absorbed in it ignoring the questions Harry throws at her as he takes over the care of her arm.
“We would have to get…”
“I know but we wouldn't need them to the end. We could grow them ourselves if we can find a place safe enough”
“Possible but…”
“I know but we could get by with your connection to Potter,” Draco says, as Harry looks between the two have no idea what is going on. The ease at which they read at each other and finished each other's thoughts was no longer a surprise after all being the last three wizards in the United Kingdom led to a certain level of closeness as they fought to survive.
“Would you two care to explain to the non-genius of the group” Harry finally snapped as the two continued their back and forth.
“You remember when you said that you wished the time-turner went back far enough to fix this mess,” Hermione asks him.
“Well yes but…” He trails off deciding to go with it if these two thought it was possible, he wasn't going to question it. “So you think we can go back and stop magic from being exposed to muggles”
“No, we are saying we can go back and stop all of it,” Draco tells him seriously.
“Tom, your parents, the first and second wizarding war, the Weasleys,” she says, her voice trailing off at the end with a shack of her head. The two of them still had trouble sleeping after the attack on the burrow. It was so unexpected, impossible to process even three years later.
“What do we need to do?”
“Hermione” Harry starts voice pained “You know we can’t the only way for you to get back and be in a position to help is to go back in my place”
“No,” Hermione tells him, shaking her head, eyes filled with fear.
“It’s the only way to save them, all of them there are literally only two of us left” Harry reasons.
“I can’t do this on my own Harry”
“You're the only one who can,” Harry tells her with a laugh “Can you imagine if I went in your place. I would kill Peter, and Dumboldore on sight and end up in Azkaban without changing anything” Hermione lets out a small laugh nodding in agreement, Harry’s act first think later approach has gotten them in enough trouble over the years. “If you really don’t want to do this we can keep running but…” he trails off. They both know what will happen when they get caught. She didn't think she could live with herself either knowing she could change things but didn't.
“But this is the only way to save ourselves and the people we love”
“‘Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery” Harry tells her quietly repeating words from so many years ago. “You were wrong, you know?” He tells her, smirking at her outraged face. “Without your Books and cleverness I would have died a long time ago”
“Harry,” she says throwing herself around him “I love you little brother”
“I love you too, Aunt Hermione” he whispers into her hair, she lets out a choked laugh smacking him on the back of the head from her position refusing to let go just yet.
“Let’s do this, they will have tracked us down soon enough,” She tells him a few minutes later when he pulls back wiping a tear from her eyes.
An hour later they are all set up standing over a cauldron in the middle of the room a knife balanced in Harry’s hand as he waits for Hermione's go ahead, at the pause between her chant’s the cuts along his palm allowing the blood to join Hermione’s in the cauldron as well as many other ingredients she and Malfoy had been working so carefully to brew. As she stops chanting a silence fills the room once more.
“Did it work? Harry asks, looking at Hermione who stares into the bottom of the cauldron, a slow nod the only response he gets. “Guess it’s time then” he starts to tell her but they both jump at the shouts from outside “Hermione you have to go now,” he tells her grabbing her bag and wrapping it around her.
“Harry,” She says looking straight into his eyes the millions of things she wants to tell him floating around in them.
“I know, I love you too,” He tells her, dropping a kiss on her forehead “I’ll see you soon make sure to sneak mini me plenty of chocolate, yeah?” he says making his way to the door planning on holding the muggles off as long as he can. Hermione whispers out a promise as she finishes the last of the spell wishing she had more time. The last few seconds she has remaining as Hermione Grangers she spends staring at her little brother on the ground who gave her everything for enough time to go back and save them all.