Rewrite the past

Chapter 31

Hermione's friends sat in silence for quite some time after she had fled the Room of Requirement.

Finally, Severus turned to face Remus, who to his surprise did not at all look as shocked as he would have thought.

"Did you know about any of this, Remus?"

Remus waited a bit, trying to think of something to say that would not offend Severus as Hermione's best friend.

"Listen, I did not know much, just that she is a time traveller on a mission to save us from great evil, and she only told me because she needed someone to talk to, someone who wasn't you. She does have her reasons for hiding this, she really does. You need to give her space though, Severus. She will explain it to you, I am sure of that. You just have to let her do it at her own pace. Please, promise me that you grant her that, I am begging you," replied Remus, trying to soothe his best friend. He could see his mind hard at work through his stormy eyes, but he also recognized that there was no rage apparent.

"I just don't understand why she didn't tell me? We've known each other for so many years now. Why did she never say something, and why didn't she say sooner? Maybe we could have helped her. This is just not fair, Remus. Why?"

"Mainly because she likes you, you idiot. If I were her, I wouldn't tell the guy I loved that I wasn't who he thought I was, either. And by the way, I can tell you like her as well. She is still here, so we should just try and preserve the time we have. We may not be able to undo anything by magic, but we can make the best of it, Sev."

At first, Severus looked at him wide-eyed, a tint of red visible on his pale face while he toyed with his fingers. After he had let that shock of having been found out subside, he said: "I guess I will have to take your word for this, Remus. I will give her the time she needs. I just hope it won't be too late by then."

He stood up and put his hand out for Remus to take and help him up out of the plush armchair he had occupied.

"Come now, we should get going, it is already well past curfew, and we have no way of turning back the time," said Remus rather jokingly when he noticed that Severus was a bit hesitant about leaving the room, still busy taking in the interior. After all, this had been a part of Hermiones life, an integral one at that.

Severus stood there a short while longer until they both started making their way through the empty hallways.

As they turned into the hallway that lead to the eagle guarding the door, Severus stopped dead in his tracks.

"Sev?"

"Turning back the time. That is it, Remus!" he exclaimed, starting to make a run for the eagle, answering the riddle already metres away from the entrance and then leaping through the opened door and up the stairs to their dorm.

The door was about to close when Remus managed to catch up and slip through as well.

When he had reached their shared dorm, he found Severus feverishly writing in a leather-bound notebook. He did not even dare to interrupt him and instead just went to bed. Sleep still did not come easy to him that night. Thoughts kept him awake well into the early morning hours, even after Severus had put out the candles.

For the next week following that night, Remus and Severus had a hard time trying to talk to Hermione. As soon as classes were out, she hid away in her dorm room, which they couldn't enter. From Maggie and Florence they heard, that she also did not talk much to them, which was just as odd.

It was the day they would be leaving Hogwarts for the summer again when Hermione finally sat with them at breakfast, still not talking to them and even avoiding to look at the others. When the owls flew in one last time for the school year, she surprisingly also got one. Intrigued by this, she immediately opened it, looked up at the head table and then up and left the hall in a hurry.

Once out in the hallway, she started to walk towards the many flights of stairs, picking up speed with every step she took. By the time she reached the headmaster's office, she was full on running. Her heart beating in her chest, she knocked on the door, waiting impatiently for him to ask her inside.

„Ah, Hermione. Come, take a seat. There are news I thought you might want to be the first to hear. Now, I suppose you still remember what we discussed when you first arrived here quite a few years ago."

The elderly man paused and waited for her to nod her head, eyeing her over the rim of his halfmoon spectacles.
„Judging by my observations of you and your group of friends I would say, that you succeeded in your task and I am very happy to inform you that the last Horcrux was destroyed and that the Ministry has successfully disbanded Tom Riddle and his luckily still very small circle of followers. I did inform the Minister about the circumstances and we came to an agreement on how to deal with the possible threat - I am certain that you are familiar with the Dementor's Kiss? Tom Riddle should not pose as any threat anymore. You successfully completed your task, Miss Granger."

Hearing him call her by her name caught her off-gaurd. After years of being Miss McGonagall, Miss Granger just sounded foreign, yet strangely familiar at the same time.

„I have not been Miss Granger in years - that is not who I am anymore."
The old headmaster smiled at her, understanding what she meant.
„I don't want to keep you here then, Miss McGonagall. Enjoy your summer!"