Second Chances (Fremione)

2.

The battle had been won. It seemed the worst was over. But as Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in the Great Hall, surrounded by dead bodies, debris, and crying friends and family, Hermione couldn't help but wonder if the worst was yet to come, if the aftermath, the recovery, would be even worse that the battle itself.

From behind one of the nearly fallen pillars, Hermione saw Professor McGonagall discreetly motioning her over.

"I'll be right back." Hermione assured her friends as she headed over to the professor.

"Follow me." Professor McGonagall said. Curiously, she followed as McGonagall led her into the headmaster's office.

"What is this about, professor?" She asked. "Why are we sneaking around?"

Professor McGonagall sat down in the huge chair. "Today has been a day of devastating losses. The past few years have been."

Hermione sank down into the chair across the desk. "I know. Professor Lupin, Tonks, Professor Dumbledore, Fred." She stopped at the last one, feeling more of a sting than she thought she would.

"Exactly. But I can't help but wonder..." she stopped, thinking hard about what she was going to say.

"Wonder what, Professor?" Hermione prodded.

"I can't help but wonder if it was all really necessary, if all of these people really needed to die to accomplish our goals."

Hermione was confused. "Well, no, I'm sure they didn't all have to die, but I'm not really sure..."

She stopped as she saw Professor McGonagall pull the time turner from one of the desk drawers.

"The time turner? But you told me that messing with time was difficult. You told me that it was only meant to be..." Hermione started, but the professor interrupted her.

"Mrs. Granger, you and I both know that an extraordinary magical object like this is meant for far greater purposes than taking extra classes." She answered, a hint of mischievousness in her eye.

"Professor, are you saying that all of these people can be saved?" Hermione clarified.

"No." McGonagall answered. "But maybe some of them can be. You can go back in time and relive your last few years at Hogwarts. I think going back to your fourth year should do. If you come across a situation that you think needs to be changed, do your best to do so."

"You want me to try to change history? Isn't that insanely dangerous?" Hermione asked. She was getting more and more intrigued and leaned her arms on the desk.

"There are always fixed points in time, things that must happen in order for things to work out the way that they are supposed to. But anything else can be changed. Anything that needs to happen will happen, regardless of how hard you work to stop it. And anyone that you can save will be an improvement from where we are now. It's dangerous, but I don't believe you can make things any worse." She answered.

Hermione frowned. "Professor, don't you think that someone else would be better suited for this? Harry?"

McGonagall laughed. "What do you think Harry would do if I asked him to repeat four years of school?" Hermione laughed too. She was probably right. Harry would hate that.

"Ok then, why not just go back to the night Harry's parents died and kill Voldemort then?" Hermione asked, still a little bit worried about what she was being asked to do.

"I'm pretty sure if anything is a fixed point, that night would qualify. No, Voldemort has to come to power and we all have to fight him. But maybe there don't have to be so many casualties." McGonagall explained.

"Ok, so what am I supposed to do? What are my priorities?" Hermione asked, finally resigning herself to what she needed to do.

"Fix our mistakes. Save people from death. Save people from themselves. Do whatever you feel is best." McGonagall answered.

"And what about my former self? Won't people notice if there are two of me running around?"

"You'll have to wipe her memories, unfortunately. Make her forget that she's a witch, and do the same to your parents. Then send her back to live in the muggle world. When you get back to the time that you left, you will rejoin with her and your memories will return. I understand you've already taken away your parents' memories, so you'll just go and return them to them as you were planning originally. This does mean that you will have to live the next few years of your life without seeing them though."

Professor McGonagall stopped, seeing how overwhelmed Hermione was getting. "I know this is a lot to ask of you. But I trust you understand how important this could be. Even if just a few of the people we've lost could be saved, it could make a huge difference."

"I know. I can do it." Hermione answered.

Professor McGonagall nodded. "I knew I could count on you." She handed her the time turner. "Go. Quickly."

Hermione turned to leave. "Oh, and Mrs. Granger?" She added. Hermione turned back. "Remember that I will have no memory of sending you back. When you return today, I won't even know. You're on your own. And you can't tell anyone about our plan. But good luck. I have faith in you."

Hermione nodded and turned to leave, the huge office doors slamming behind her. Taking a deep breath, she slipped the time turner around her neck and ran as fast as she could off the Hogwarts grounds.