123A/N: So the second chapter is done (I hope it's not too bad). Again there may be some mistakes regarding spelling/grammar. If so, let me know. So please read and review :)
She entered the office, her nerves on end. Looking around, she saw different devices displayed on shelves and on his desk. Finally looking up, she saw Dumbledore sitting in his high chair behind his desk.
Dumbledore looked at the girl that just stepped inside of his office. He didn't remember seeing her, so he studied her with a curious gleam in his eyes. When he noticed that she finally looked at him, he started to speak.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Miss…?" He asked in a calm voice.
"Uhm, Hermione, Sir. Hermione Granger." Hermione answered, not really knowing if it was smart to say her real name or not.
"Miss Granger, how may I help you?"
She knew she couldn't give away much information. If she did, she could alter the future. Or her present. Thinking quick, she thought that she had to tell him at least some things of what had happened in order to give him a chance to get her back home to her own time. That was, if he wanted to help her.
"It is kind of hard to explain, Sir. But first, can I ask what the date is?"
"The date? Well, today is 26 September 1976. Why, may I ask, do you need the date?"
"Well, you see Sir, this may sound a bit strange," and here she faltered a bit, "but I am from the future." Hermione said a little uncertain, not knowing if he would believe her. Looking at Dumbledore to see his reaction, she saw that his eyes widened just that little bit more but that he didn't do anything else to show his surprise. He kept his calm demeanour and if it wasn't for the eyes, she wouldn't even have noticed anything at all.
"From the future?" He asked.
"Yes, Sir. To be more exact, I am from 1997."
"And how is it, may I ask, that you came to be here?"
"Well, you see, this is where it becomes difficult to explain. I don't know how I got here. And I need your help but I don't know how to explain it."
"I understand that, if you really are from the future, you need to be careful with what you tell me, with what you tell anyone. But if you want my help, you need to tell me what happened. Not everything, I don't need to know every little detail. But I do need to have an idea of what happened so that I may help you." He said calmly.
Hermione was thinking of what she could tell him and what she needed to leave out. While she was thinking, Dumbledore looked at the girl.
To him, it looked like she was telling the truth. Why would a girl like her lie about travelling back in time. On the other hand, you couldn't be too careful now that the threat, known as lord Voldemort, was gaining more and more power.
"Okay," She said, her voice a little shaky because of her nerves, "Okay."
"Do you know He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" She asked a little timidly.
"Unfortunately, I do. What has he to do with all of this?"
"Well, in the future he is gaining power and it was during one of the battles against his death eaters that I was sent here."
He was surprised to hear that 21 years in the future the evil they had to deal with now, was still in power then. The only signs of his surprise showing, were his eyes widening and the sparkle in them that left for a moment.
"He is still not defeated in 21 years from now?"
"Oh no, he will be defeated. But not permanently. In a few years, he will be defeated and he will stay away for several years. However, during the years that everybody thought he was defeated, he was slowly but surely gaining back his powers." She said, making sure that she didn't gave away details and names of persons involved.
Dumbledore, still keeping calm and not showing any surprise with his body, had a small bewildered look on his face.
"The fight that resulted in me being here, was one that took place two years after he came back with his full powers. We were fighting and two curses merged together and it was due to the merging of those two curses that I'm here now." She said in a small voice.
Hoping that she had said enough for him to help her and little enough to not jeopardize the future, she watched him closely. After several more moments of silence, Dumbledore had made up his mind.
"If what you say is true –"
"It is, Sir!" She said a little frantically, interrupting him.
"Then I will do what I can to try and get you back to your time."
"Thank you so much, Sir."
"But I'm afraid that you will be here for a while, seeing that we don't know exactly which curses brought you here." He said ever so calmly. But at this news, he saw her face fall and her shoulders slump a bit.
"Am I right to assume that you went to Hogwarts in your time?" He asked, seeing her Hogwarts uniform.
"I did, Sir. I was a Gryffindor."
"And what year were you in?"
"I was a sixth year, Sir."
"If you have to stay here for a while, would you like to be a student at the Hogwarts of this time?"
"I would love to, I know the castle and it would make me feel a little more at ease. But, Sir, I don't have any money and clothes. I couldn't possibly stay here."
"No need to worry, my child. I will look after everything."
"But, Sir, I couldn't possibly –"
"You can and you will." He said in a soft but firm voice. "You're from another time, it is dangerous for you out there. If someone would get their hands on you and knew what information you held about the future, it could turn out worse than it already is. Or will be. Here, I can keep an eye on you."
Seeing that he was absolutely right, she choose not to resist anymore and nodded in agreement. And, like she said, it would make her a little less homesick, knowing that she was in a place she knew well, a place she had shared with her friends.
"Now that it is settled, we need to discuss what you will tell the other students. You see, the schoolyear started almost four weeks ago so it will get some attention that a student started later than the others."
She agreed and they went on planning of what she would say to others when asked who she was, where she was from, who her family was, and so on. They decided that she could keep her name, seeing as she was muggleborn, it couldn't do much harm. She went to Beauxbatons until her parents died. That's when she decided to come back to England to live with some friends of the family, seeing that she had no other relatives. Dumbledore had said that he would contact some people, who were in the Order, to see whom she could go to in case of emergencies. Her books and clothing would be taken care of by Dumbledore himself, so all that remained was to see in which house she would be in. Seeing her uniform with the Gryffindor crest on it and the prefect badge, they decided to keep it simple and let her just stay in the house she was in in her time.
"Now that everything is settled, I will send for a Gryffindor prefect to show you around." He said the last part with a little glimmer in his eyes, knowing she knew the castle like any other student there.
"Unfortunately, we already have prefects. So I have to ask to hand in the badge, Miss Granger."
Feeling a little sad that she had to distance herself from the only thing that she had with her from her time, she pulled the badge from her uniform and handed it to Dumbledore.
"Mr Dippet," Dumbledore addressed one of his portraits, "Could you bring Miss Evans to my office please?"
After watching Mr Dippet disappear from his portrait, Dumbledore turned back to face Hermione.
"Miss Evans will be here shortly and she will give you a little tour around."
A few minutes later, there was someone knocking on the door, asking for entrance. After stepping inside of the office, the redhead immediately saw the new student and give a small smile.
"Aahh, Miss Evans, thank you for coming. This is Hermione Granger and she will be attending Hogwarts from today." Dumbledore said.
Looking at the door where the redhead stood, she gave a small smile. Lily, the ever so friendly person that she was, immediately stepped towards Hermione with her hand outstretched.
"I'm Lily, Lily Evans. Nice to meet you." Lily said with a smile on her face.
"Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you too." Hermione said. Her voice gave a little crack as she realized that she stood face to face with Lily Evans, the mother of her best friend. Fortunately for her, the crack in her voice went unnoticed by Lily. Although, she was pretty sure that Dumbledore had noticed.
"Miss Evans, I called you here to welcome Hermione and to give her a tour around the castle."
"Of course, Sir."
"Well, Hermione, I hope you will feel right at home here. And if there's anything, anything at all, my door is always open for those who need it."
"Thank you, professor." She said, not sure if there was a double meaning behind his words.
And with that she left the office together with Lily. Lily gave her a tour around the castle and sometimes Hermione would ask something or say how wonderful something was, though she knew everything already.
During the tour, Lily would ask something and Hermione would answer. Though, she tried to say as little as possible.
"So Hermione, why start school now, if you don't mind my asking? I mean, school started almost four weeks ago."
"Well, I went to Beauxbatons but something happened and that's why I came here."
"O, what happened? You don't have to answer if you don't want to." She added the last part hurriedly.
"I'd prefer not to talk about it, actually, if you don't mind." Hermione replied in a small voice, looking down at her feet.
"Of course not, no problem. So, what year are you in?"
"I'm in sixth year."
"O, me too. That means we're in the same dorm room and we'll have classes together." Lily said happily.
And with this kind of small talk the tour continued. Just before dinner, Lily showed Hermione the Gryffindor common room and the dorm that they shared together with two girls named Alice and Marlene.
"Dinner is about to start. Are you coming?" Lily asked.
"Actually, would you mind if I lay down for a moment and skip dinner? It was a very trying day." Hermione said in a small voice.
"O, of course, I don't mind at all. It's understandable you're tired after a day like today." She said and then there was a little pause.
"So, you just rest and if there's anything or you decide you're hungry, just come to the Great Hall." Lily said with a smile.
"I'll be going now. See you later." Lily said, before waving and leaving their room.
"See you later." Hermione called after her but Lily was already out the door and walking down the stairs.
After a few moments, when Hermione was absolutely sure that she was alone, she laid down on her bed. She let it all sink in, all what happened today, from the fight beneath the astronomy tower to the time travelling to meeting the dead parents of her best friend, who was now in a different time than her.
She closed the curtains around her four-poster bed, turned onto her side, buried her face in her pillow and started to cry.