Through all time

Chapter 7 - The Return

Through all time
by LilyGreenEyes

(Translated from German into English by Nina Berner)

Chapter 7 - The Return

The first sensation she felt was the moist grass under her knees and hands. Hermione had crashed crushed hard into the ground, and her head was buzzing. The nausea she had first encountered at the beginning of her journey seemed even worse now than before. She could no longer control her abdomen, and vomited right next to the bushes beside her. Still on all fours she crawled backwards, distancing herself from her own puke. Her eyes were flickering and her whole body was shivering. Devoid of all orientation her eyes frantically searched around her. Somewhere close should be Hagrid's hut, at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hermione sat back on her heels and tried to focus. She should have arrived at the morning of the battle, that was the date and time she had set.

She wanted to be on the grounds before the battle started, intending to save as many of her friends as possible. And she planned to be in the Shrieking Shack to stop Severus from dying. She knew in her time Severus was not the same Severus she had fallen in love with just a few days ago, but she could not let him die no matter what. Her heart was aching for him when she had left him behind, alone in the past. After the incredible kiss they had shared she was sure the shy Slytherin boy her age felt the same as she did. But there was no future for the both of them. She did not belong in his time, no matter how much she had wished to stay with him.

The feelings she had for Severus were something completely new for her. She had never felt like that for a boy, for a man, certainly not for Ron, and not for Viktor Krum either. Or for anybody else, ever. She felt attracted to Severus in every possible way, not just physically, but intellectually as well.

For the first time in her life she had found her equal, she had enjoyed her conversations with him, she enjoyed discussing topics with him, talking about philosophical questions. Their heated arguments had seemed almost arousing to her. And she could not even begin to imagine what they might have led to with time.

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, and inhaled the cold morning air. She knew it would have been better to obliviate his memory, but she could not bring herself to do that. Not after she had already manipulated her parents' memory of her, making them both forget her for all time. She had only made Severus promise to never speak about her or anything she had told him to anyone, and she hoped that would have been enough.

Slowly Hermione struggled back on her feet. She stood leaned against a thin tree and looked over the grounds of Hogwarts. Then she tentatively made a few steps forward. Not far away she could see Hagrid's hut, it still looked just as she remembered it, white and grey smoke rose from its chimney and Hermione even thought she could hear Fang barking. Walking was still arduous for her, she felt dizzy and she was shivering just as much as she had when she landed. Hermione startled as she heard voices coming to her from the hut.

The door flew open and all Hermione could see was a dark figure emerging from the hut. In that moment her eyes started to flicker, and an excruciating pain flooded through her body. A scream she could not suppress escaped her. Hermione crashed down onto the ground in agonizing screams and a painful pressure that seemed to have taken hold inside her head. She had lost all orientation. The pain grew worse; she saw stars behind her eyes.

Someone ran towards her, she notice heavy steps, and she could feel how the earth vibrated.

"It is her! Get Dumbledore, Hagrid! I will take her to Poppy!"

Hermione felt her body being carried by strong arms as she was lifted off the ground.

She tried to say something, but before she could even attempt to, she went unconscious.