Fate Set Right

Chapter 45

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June 22, 1996 (continued)

"You're... well, you're not forgiven, but I..." she stopped, turning around to look at her daughter and her other godson. They had been wide-eyed, and Hermione had assumed it was because they were terrified of her temper. But now, she realized, they had been wide-eyed because she looked like herself. She looked at the others in the room, Luna smiling serenely, Neville was squinting, Ginny stared, teary-eyed, seemingly unsure if this was a happy development or not, and Ron was slack-jawed.

"It was the Time-Turner, wasn't it?" Harry guessed, drawing her attention back to him. "When we were in the hospital wing, the last time I saw you. Something happened with it."

Before Hermione could answer, Severus' voice cut through the room. "I think it's best that this all stays in this room. That said, I will find Albus to discuss what has happened."

"I'm sorry, sir," Harry spoke before Severus could leave. "I was scared. I wasn't sure the Order would come, and we'd been waiting a while. I should have tried harder to keep him out, too."

Severus lingered at the door, wavering between saying something or walking out. He glanced at Hermione, then looked at Harry. "You have experienced how dangerous it is, how deadly it could be if it happens again," Severus said, and Harry nodded. "Then do better to keep him out. And perhaps you'll heed my word next time." And without another word, Severus walked out.

Hermione felt his magic coat the room, ensuring their conversation wasn't overheard or interrupted.

She sagged, filled with exhaustion. With a wave of her hand, she summoned a chair to her, sitting heavily.

"It was the Time-Turner," Harry repeated, though there was no question this time.

"Yes," she confessed. "You managed to send me back twenty years."

"And... and you couldn't come back?"

She shook her head. "You have to wait out the time, remember?"

"And you had to wait twenty years." He bowed his head.

"It wasn't so bad once I settled in. I missed you, of course, I missed all of you. But... I had a good life."

"You married Snape!" Ron shouted. "How was that a good life? If you had to marry anyone, why not marry Remus? Or Sirius?"

"I prefer not to be someone's beard," she confessed. "And I love Severus."

"You realize if she didn't love Snape, Rory wouldn't exist," Harry pointed out, and Ron paled further.

"Merlin, you're..."

"Slow on the uptake," Aurora snarked.

"So, you... you married Snape. And you... and Aurora."

"I have a brother, too, remember," she pointed out unhelpfully. "So that thing you're thinking? Had to have happened at least twice."

"Your parents," Ron said with disgust.

Aurora shrugged. "I'm not stupid enough to think that married couples only sit and hold hands."

"You knew my parents," Harry observed.

Hermione turned to look at him sadly. "I couldn't save them," she said regretfully. "Merlin knows I wanted to, but Dumbledore made me make an Unbreakable Vow when I arrived in 1974. I will confess, I never cared much for your father. He was too brash and too obnoxious for my taste. And your mother and me... Lily and I had our differences. We had our rows, but Lily was a dear friend, and I miss her every day. You're very much like her, you know? You may look like your father, but you have more than your mother's eyes. You have her heart."