A Second Channe Through Time

CHAPTER TWENTY

Page count: 11

Hogwarts - Friday 12th March 1982

Sitting in his office on a quiet Friday afternoon, Dumbledore found his peace disrupted and his attention drawn from the documents before him, when an owl swooped in through the open window and landed on his desk, its leg outstretched and displaying the letter tied to it. Taking it from the owl and opening the envelope, the parchment only held three words.

She is alone.

The parchment fluttered to his desk as it fell from his hands and he stood, quickly crossing to the fireplace before he disappeared in green flames.

~000~000~000~

Sirius' Apartment

Three figures stood in the doorway, all dressed in black robes and the signature Death Eater masks.

Hermione was quick to jump to her feet and banish her books back to her heavily warded bookcase; the titles she had in her possession couldn't fall in the wrong hands if she wished to keep everyone safe.

Before she had the chance to cast a spell of her own, a neon blue beam of light was soaring across the room and it hit her square in the chest, propelling her off her feet until her back collided with the wall and she slumped to the ground with a groan of pain. She'd never been hit with magic so powerful.

Tightening her grip on her wand, Hermione attempted to stand and before she'd risen to her feet, a second spell slammed into her, sending her back into the wall behind her and a third spell disarmed her, her wand lying on the ground but out of reach.

The tallest of the robed figures approached her whilst the other two remained by the door, the entrance glowing a dull red as they muttered unintelligibly and moved their wands in intricate patterns.

Blinking back the tears of pain, she lifted her gaze to the masked figure as he said,

"What do you know about the Horcruxes?"

She blinked slowly, both her head and her back throbbing and hiss slipped past her lips when he was hit with a Slicing Hex to her right upper arm.

"What do you know about the Horcruxes?" He repeated.

She kept her gaze steady and her lips sealed, a second Slicing Hex cutting through her skin. She hissed, her eyes narrowing into a glare when he bent slightly, locking his gaze with hers. Her eyes widened in surprise; she knew who it was. Whilst the robes and mask were used to disguise the identity and a voice changing charm had been used, too, the eyes remained the same. And Hermione would recognise those blue eyes anywhere... It was Dumbledore.

Before she realised what was happening she felt a dull throb in her head and she could feel the presence of another. Panic welled inside her; he was using Legilimency. Hermione was average at best at Occlumency and would never be able to stop someone as powerful or experienced as Dumbledore but she had to try. She brought up her mental shields and Dumbledore slammed against them, trying to find a weak spot and in the process, blinding pain filled her head.

It barely took him moments to break through but when he did Hermione quickly cleared her mind and thought of nothing but her previous timeline. Her childhood memories came to the forefront of her mind, distracting Dumbledore and forcing him to search through every memory he offered, by her time.

She fought back the pain of the migraine and summoned her magic until it all congregated at her core, allowing it to build until she felt she could no longer control it and then she forced it towards Dumbledore, pushing him out of her mind. She gasped as the pain slowly receded and her mind cleared, her hands coming up to rub at her temples soothingly and she slammed her eyes shut, not allowing him a second chance to enter her mind. The first shouldn't have happened at all. She'd been stupid.