Turn back time - Hermione Granger in the Marauders era

Hallowe'en 1981

Hermione raced along the street blindly. It couldn't be true. No, no, no! Her heart beat faster with every step. The darkness of the night crept up behind her. The voices of the trick or treaters seemed muffled. Hermione couldn't hear, she couldn't feel. Please no, no, no.

She rounded the corner of the house; James' and Lily's home. But it was theirs no more. Hermione screamed out in protest. It already look abandoned, lonely, empty. She sank to her knees. Her sobs racked her body.

Lily. James. No, no, no!

Hermione clutched the gate of the house for support. It bore so many memories. They lived in dark times, but Hermione wasn't prepared for this... she could never be prepared for something like this. Her best friends...gone...dead...

The cold of the ground seeped through her clothes, but Hermione was oblivious to anything other than her own pain. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. Lily. James.

Her cries were alone in the silence of the street in Godric's Hollow. No, no, no. The word repeated in her head. No, no, no.

Tears streamed down her cheeks and blinded her. She grabbed the gate and hauled herself up on to her feet. Sirius, Peter, Remus. She had to find them and tell them, if they didn't already know. Her heart sank as she thought the name in her head: Peter. He had been their Secret-Keeper. He was the only one who could have betrayed Lily and James. He...he was the traitor. Anger surged through Hemione. She would find him, and kill him too.

She raced back along the path, headed towards Peter's house. With every step, adrenaline streamed into her veins, distracting her from her pain. It was several streets away, but Hermione had become a fast runner through her experiences. She was just three streets away when she heard it. The shouting. Hermione recognised them as Sirius' and Peters' screams of anguish.

"You, you!" Sirius screamed.

"Sirius, how could you?" Peter shouted louder.

They were just around the corner now. Hermione raced along.

"How could you betray James and Lily to Voldemort...?" He continued.

Then there was an almighty bang and what sounded like thumps to the ground. Hermione rounded the corner. Only to see a number of unfamiliar people slumped against the ground and Sirius screaming and shouting into the air.

"Sirius! Sirius!" Hermione screamed at him.

But he seemed almost too angry and pained to notice her. He was scanning the floor for a rat; the rat: Peter Pettigrew. But there was nothing to see other than a mass of dead bodies.

"Sirius! Sirius!" Hermione shrieked.

"Hermione! No... Help... Please..." He just seemed to be yelling random words at her.

She ran to him and grabbed him by his shoulders. "We can fix it. We can save them," Tears poured down her cheeks as she said it. "We'll go back, we'll go back to save them."

"The Time Turner?" Sirius asked, hope swelling in his eyes.

Neither of them were thinking straight. The next thing they knew Hermione had her Time Turner around her neck. She could hear the sirens. The police were coming. She twisted the knob rapidly. Back as many hours as she could. Sirius tried to take it of her, insisted that he did it. But still she turned it. One...two...three...four... Suddenly someone barged into her and landed on top of her. The Time Turner slit across her neck and broke. It shattered to the floor. This was bad, very bad. Hermione felt herself go dizzy. She writhed in pain. She felt as if she was shrinking, then she realised that she was. Hermione saw was the confused and terrified face of the person who had collided into her: Remus Lupin. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she screamed in pain. But her hands were becoming smaller and smaller. When she let go she saw the hands and arms and body of a six year old; her six year old self. But she was still shrinking.

 "Hermione? What the...? No! Stop! Stop!" Remus shouted as he shook her by the shoulders.

She looked up at him, almost straining her kneck. What the...?

"Hermione? What's happened? I don't understand? What's it done to you?" Remus asked desperately.

"Hermione? Hermione? You look like a two year old? What the hell have you done?" Sirius called.

Their voices seemed to merge into one "Hermione...Hermione...Hermione?" She felt the world spin around her. Remus' and Sirius' faces swimmed into her vision, looking bewildered and alarmed. They were the last thing she saw before she blacked out.

*AN: Yes, this chapter will be explained in more detail at the end of the book*