Minerva McGonagall stared at Hermione, dumbfounded. She did not have any children, but if she had, she would very much like to think they would have been like the young witch standing in front of her at this moment. She didn't often have favourites, but Hermione Granger was, without a doubt, one of them. And not just because she was clever! Oh no, she had courage which came with her genius mind, but she used it with caution and had a high capability for common sense. So as she regarded the woman in front of her, she was struck by the desperation in her voice; this may have been unplanned, but Hermione would not act like this lightly. This was serious.
Hermione watched hundreds of thoughts flit across the mind of her role model. She sagged with relief as Minerva wordlessly summoned the pensive out from its cabinet in the wall and released the breath she didn't know she had been holding.
"Honestly Hermione, when will you give up and call me Minerva?" Hermione saw her old professor's lips twitch with amusement and allowed herself a fleeting smile. "It just doesn't sound right, after eight years at school calling you Professor!" Minerva chuckled in agreement. Hermione meanwhile was back on track, remembering that she was here for a reason, not for some banter with her old mentor. Aiming her wand at her temple, she proceeded to extract a few silvery strands of memory which she placed into the pensive. "I need your advice ... Minerva. I don't know how much I really understand but I'm sure you'll know more."
Both women dipped their heads until their faces broke the surface of the pensive, and they were gone. Hermione felt an unfamiliar pull in her naval, like someone had attached a hook there and she couldn't get away. She had never witnessed any memories in the pensive, but she knew how it worked. She blinked and she was back in 1998 with Minerva.
She heard her professor give a horrified gasp as the scene around them came into focus. "Se-Severus?" she whispered, her voice breaking. She had never been fond of the self-professed potions master, but she had known that in the end, he had fought and died for them, not for Voldemort.
*"Only you can do it ... change it all! Save them... Save her. You could give him ... family ... you know enough ... brightest witch of your age ..." as he struggled to get the words out, Hermione felt him press something metallic and cold into her hand. She glanced down and slowly opened her fist. The object in it resembled something she knew well, yet there were clear differences in this model, obvious alterations. Where the sand would usually be at the centre, contained in the hourglass, there was now a faintly glowing gold liquid substance. However she did not have time to puzzle it out now.
Snape renewed his grip on Hermione's wrist and directed her attention to his dark mark. To her surprise, more memories were leaking out around the edges of the mark, which in turn appeared to be bubbling. Without thinking she summoned two more vials and collected the silvery wisps. Once she had sealed the vials, she again regarded her mark. To her surprise, it had completely faded, leaving an angry looking red welt in its place.
"Love conquers all" tears were streaming down Snape's face as he regarded the young witch above him. "I don't have long, listen well. You know what I have given you, but you know not what it does; I leave that to you to discover. Use it to go back, find them all. Destroy them together. So many lives saved ... do not watch those; they are not for your eyes. Give them to me after 'mudblood'. You will know when." Pain clouded his eyes and he gasped, finally delivering the information he had needed. He took one last breath, "I'm ... so-rry ... for everything ... Lily". *
The scene faded again and then they were back on the floor in McGonagall's office.
"That was during the Battle of Hogwarts. He had given Harry some memories which I later found out from him were Snape's way of telling Harry he was to die if we were to win the war. Something made me stay behind after Harry and Ron left, I later realised this was the reason. I would have come to you sooner, but I forgot all about it! However recently I haven't been able to sleep and last night I took a dreamless sleep potion. Professor, what's powerful enough to overcome that? I dreamed of him, of Snape. His final words to me, and I realised he wanted me to do something" Hermione trailed off and took a deep breath. She hadn't meant for it all to come out like that, but it felt like she was going to explode with all the questions she had which had gone unanswered all these years.
"Sweet Merlin ..." McGonagall breathed. She wasn't one for cursing, but considering what she had just witnessed, she felt that she was perfectly entitled to it. "Miss Granger, this is one hell of a secret to have been sitting on all these years! Before we discuss any further, I must insist you go home and get both the device given to you and Severus' memories!"
Hermione nodded and literally dived head first into the fireplace in her haste, quickly muttering her desired destination. Back in Godric's Hollow, Hermione bounded up the stairs, two at a time all the way to the attic. Fighting her way past the old Weasley ghoul, she reached an old, slightly dislodged panel in the wall. "Thank god Ronald still isn't too observant" she murmured to herself as she slid it out of the way. Inside was a large clearing, enlarged by an undetectable extension charm. Along with Hermione's old time turner, her beaded bag and her copy of 'Tales of Beadle the Bard', obscured from view, was a small glass vial of memories and a strange object, resembling another within Hermione's safe place.
Minerva looked up as two objects were swiftly placed in front of her on the desk. She had been so deep in thought that she had not heard Hermione's return. Discarding the vial as she knew what it contained, she moved her concentration to the other object. It was larger than its look alike, and was once clearly held on a chain, which was no longer present. As soon as she touched it, she felt the power it radiated; this was momentous magic. She looked up at Hermione, her catlike eyes wide. "What do you know of Time Turners Hermione?"
"They are objects which were created in 1978 and allow the wearer to go back in time, up to 24 hours. This is because any further could create serious issues with loopholes and tears in the fabric between time dimensions. Each turn of the dial equates to one hour back in time. The uses of time turners were heavily monitored by the Ministry until ... Harry, Ron and I destroyed them" Hermione answered promptly and automatically. She blushed slightly at the memory of the battle in the Department of Mysteries; she would always regret the clumsiness of her and the other members of Dumbledore's Army.
"All correct, as per usual" Minerva allowed herself a smile. "Severus was always into experimenting with his potions. He adapted them for convenience and efficiency and eventually started to create his own. He isn't known as the 'potions master' for nothing. He gained a greater understanding of each ingredient than anyone in history, and with that knowledge it appears he has created this. Did you look at it closely? The dial which would normally reads 'hrs.' now reads 'yrs.'. Hermione, he wants you to go back" McGonagall said the words literally as they came to her, so she was at a similar level of shock once she finished explaining the situation to Hermione.
"Back where?" Hermione voiced the question that they were both wondering. "I do not know child, but I can also address some other questions. From childhood, even before Hogwarts, young Severus Snape befriended a certain Lily Evans. They had a friendship unlike any other I have witnessed it my entire career. Young Lily was sorted into Gryffindor and proceeded to strike up some strong friendships, whereas Severus fell in with the wrong people. And yet, all the way through until their fifth year, Lily defended him, no one could say a word against him in her presence. Then just like that it was over. But he loved her ... oh he loved her more than anything. They had matching patronuses you know; both of them doe's. That's a love stronger than any other. He switched to our side in the hope of saving her and James, regardless of his hatred towards him. He never got over her death".
"Save them..." Hermione murmured after McGonagall had finished. She still didn't know who Snape had been referring to, but she was intent on doing it. Without a word she was back in the fireplace, grabbed her beaded bag, pre packed in case of an emergency, and was back again with Minerva.
"I'm going. He fought for all that, and it was in vain. I have to change it! One thing I did notice is that the time is pre-set; I don't know where it will send me but he had a plan" Hermione grabbed the vial of Snape's last memories and dropped it into a secret compartment in her bag. "Tell everyone I'm sorry... Please Minerva. But never speak of this. Promise me to tell no one where I gone?" Hermione pleaded with her old professor. "I promise". She said, against her better judgement. She just had to hope Hermione knew what she was doing. "Wait, before you go..." Minerva quickly scrawled something on some paper and waved her wand over it before sealing it. "If I am where you are going, show that to me and I will help you ... good luck my child" Minerva felt a stray tear trickle down her cheek.
With a nod and a small smile of farewell, Hermione pressed in the little knob on one end of the altered time turner, and watched as Minerva's worried face faded from view.
