Hermione stopped reading only long enough to jot down a few notes on her parchment, then she went back to scanning the giant tome she had been flipping through all night. She sighed, her eyes starting to go blurry from lack of sleep, and absent-mindedly massaged her shoulder, trying to relieve some of the cramping. "Miss Granger?" a familiar voice drawled, and Hermione froze. She had hoped she would be left alone tonight, especially by him. She had to remind herself that she wasn't some first year that was deathly scared by the descending of his eyebrows anymore. After six years in classes with him, he ceased to frighten her any longer. Well…he didn't frighten her as much as he used to.

"Yes, Professor Snape?" she responded, hoping he would just make a comment about her being a know-it-all and then leave her alone. She could feel a headache threatening to descend as it formed just behind her eyes.

"Might I have the honor of your eyes, as well as your attention, Granger?" he sneered. Hermione finally raised her eyes to his. He nodded and said, "The Headmaster wants to see you."

Hermione frowned, "Now? Doesn't he know how important this is?"

Snape rolled his eyes, "No doubt. However, the Headmaster has requested that I bring you. So if you cannot manage to tear yourself away from your book, then I shall endeavor to help you."

Hermione sighed and closed the book with greater force than necessary. She rolled up her parchment, capped her ink, cleaned her quill, and set them in her canvas bag, tucking the large book under her arm. She began to walk toward the exit of the library when Snape called, "Miss Granger, I do believe that book belongs here."

"It shouldn't," she whispered, but after a moment placed the book down on the nearest counter. Satisfied, Snape swept past her, and she lengthened her stride to keep up with him as they walked from the library.

They took a different route than Hermione was used to taking, and finally ended up at an ordinary wooden door. "Professor, has the Headmaster changed rooms?" she asked confused as he tapped the door once with his wand and whispered the password.

"No, Miss Granger," he answered, not answering her unspoken question. The door swung open and Snape swept through. "Come along, Granger," he said, his gravelly voice spurring her to hurry after him. The passage led to another door, which Snape again tapped and gave another password. This door opened to reveal the Headmaster's office.

"Severus, thank you for bringing her," Dumbledore said his eyes uncharacteristically lifeless behind his half-moon spectacles. "Miss Granger," he said addressing Hermione now, "I know you have been doing a great deal of work, attempting to rectify this situation we now find ourselves in."

Hermione nodded, "I am getting close, Headmaster. I'm sure we will have to get more people to help us than just the Order, but we could have Harry back in a matter of days." She frowned, "But I really need to be researching. If I get just one part of his equation wrong, it could be devastating."

The Headmaster came out from behind his desk and smiled fondly at her. "You really are an amazing witch, Hermione. And not just because you are smart. You have a passion that few can boast, and a drive that few can match." He laid a hand on her shoulder and Hermione smiled with the praise. "Unfortunately," he said removing his hand and returning to lean against his desk, "We do not have a few days."

"What happened?" Hermione said, her mind wheeling with all that could have gone wrong.

The Headmaster smiled, "Nothing, my child, Harry is safe. For now. But I am weakening. This extended use of my power, over such a great distance, has drained my magic. Soon there will be nothing left. I will die, and Harry…Harry won't be protected from the Dark Lord any longer."

Hermione felt her stomach squeeze uncomfortably. "How long?" she asked, trying not to choke on the tears in her throat.

Dumbledore shrugged, "About a day, maybe a day and a half."

Hermione nodded, "I'll return to the library immediately. I just have to figure this out faster."

Dumbledore shook his head, "There isn't time, Miss Granger. We cannot take the chance that you will find what you are looking for in time. We must try another avenue."

"Another avenue?" Hermione whispered, "I thought we discussed all possible avenues, with the Order! No one had any other ideas." She paused. That wasn't exactly true, there had been plenty of ideas, just done that would actually work. Her idea was the Order's last chance, but everything depended on her getting the arithmancy correct. She couldn't be sure the spell would work correctly if she didn't solve it. But there were too many variables, and the one person who could have helped her had died a few weeks ago.

Dumbledore inclined his head, "We did discuss possible avenues, however, I did not raise my own idea. It is a last minute avenue, and it is dangerous. Far too dangerous for me to ask it of you, but…" The headmaster trailed off, his lips thinning and the blood draining from his face. "Severus," he choked out. Snape rushed forward, supporting the Headmaster with one arm while the other dug into his robes to pull out a vial.

"Unstopper it," Snape said thrusting his arm in Hermione's direction. She hurried forward and pulled the cork from the tiny glass bottle. Snape took the vial back and poured the contents down Dumbledore's throat.

Dumbledore straightened slightly, made a motion with his hand and said, "Protego." Gradually the color returned to his face and Snape helped guide Dumbledore back into his chair. "It is over, Severus," Dumbledore said patting the Potion Master's hand.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" Hermione asked, her eyes flicking from Snape to Dumbledore. It shocked her more than the final battle had to see Dumbledore so weak.

"Five points from Gryffindor," Snape snapped, "Keep a civil tongue in your head, Miss Granger. You are not Mr. Weasley." There was an awkward silence in the room as Snape realized what he had just said. His face went out of focus, and Hermione focused on maintaining her breathing as the panic resurfaced and the memories came back in one bright, horrific flash.

Harry unconscious on the battle field, Ron and herself standing guard over his body, protecting him from the Death Eaters. Shoulder to shoulder, blocking curses, Snape behind them, protecting their backs. The green flash of light, Bellatrix's cackle of glee, and Ron's face as he…Ron's surprised face as he fell to join his best friend on the muddy ground. Her own voice ragged and desperate as she fell to the ground beside him, calling his name, yelling at him to get up. But he didn't respond. He was gone. Snape's hand around her arm as he tried to pull her up, as he screamed her name and blocked curses from all directions, attempting to save her wretched life. But she crawled forward, picking herself up and throwing herself toward the woman who had just killed one of her best friends. The wordless hex that ripped from her wand to kill Bellatrix, leaving a gaping hole in the mad woman's chest where her heart should have been. And then Voldemort appearing, his eyes focused on her, and the green bolt of light that came for her, before Snape threw himself at her and they apparated away, leaving her two best friends lying in the mud, one dead, and the other at Lord Voldemort's mercy.

"Miss Granger!" someone called her name. She was in someone's robes, her face buried in the soft black cloth. "Miss Granger, focus," Snape's deep voice called her back to herself and she realized she was crying all over his chest. He was holding her up, his strong arms around her waist to keep her from puddling on the floor.

"Sorry Professor," she said stepping back and wiping her eyes with the corner of her sleeve. He nodded, and turned his attention back to Dumbledore, trying to ignore his wet, tear-stained chest. Hermione noted with irritation that he did not apologize for his unthoughtful comment.

"Voldemort's attacks on Harry come more frequently now," Dumbledore said quietly, "He knows I do not have the strength to shield Harry much longer." Dumbledore looked from Hermione to Snape in dismay. "All these years, I thought I was doing right. I thought if only I could protect Harry long enough to reach maturity, he would be able to fulfill the prophesy." A lone tear slipped down his wrinkled cheek, "So many dead. So many friends sacrificed, and still we were not successful. Still the Dark Lord lives, and our savior, captured." His eyes cleared and he nodded, "But if this works, we can save them, Miss Granger. Mr. Weasley, Ginny, Ron, Lupin, Mad-eye, Vector, Kingsley, Dean, Harry…they can all be saved."

"How?" Hermione whispered, "I'll do anything, sir. Anything." She felt Snape staring at her, but ignored him, focusing on what the Headmaster would say next.

"I have been…experimenting with Time Turners," Dumbledore said, "I have created a new device. One that, if this works, will revolutionize Time Turners, make them more safe for witches and wizards to use. You must use it, Miss Granger. You know how to navigate through time, you showed yourself extraordinarily capable in only your third year. You know the rules, and Harry and Ron trust you. It would be much safer for Severus to go in your stead, but he is certain that Harry would not listen to him."

Hermione stole a glance at Snape, his face twisted in a frown. "What I actually said, Miss Granger, was that the two dunderheads wouldn't have the brains to listen to me. You, they may grudgingly listen to."

"So what am I to do?" she asked, "How does it work?"

Dumbledore slid open a drawer of his desk and brought out a Time Turner. "This is the Time Turner I have fixed, Miss Granger. It is in some ways the same as the Time Turners you are familiar with, and in some ways completely different." He pressed down on the center of the Time Turner and a few additional gold rings appeared. "This Time Turner can reach further into time. I could program it to send you back to the Founding of our illustrious school, or to five minutes ago. All of time is within my grasp. And you won't have a programed amount of time. Instead, I have charmed it to know when tasks are completed. After completion, it will bring you back to the moment you put it on. The same rules apply though, you mustn't let yourself be seen. And you must be careful of what you say and do so you do not irrevocably change the future for the worse. Do you understand?"

Hermione nodded, "So I am to return in time, what time?"

"A year before the battle. You will seek out Professor Snape. You will hand him this letter," he brandished a newly sealed letter, "and you will tell him you are there to help him. He will take care of the Hermione Granger in the current timeline, and you will take her place, until the task has been finished."

"What task?" she asked her heart speeding up in anticipation. Soon she would see Harry and Ron again.

"To make a potion that will protect us, Miss Granger. It will also give you a chance to correct any mistakes the boys have made. Spells they should have studied, things they should have been prepared for. Anything you can think of to make sure we have as much of an advantage as possible over Voldemort this time," he answered. "If you succeed, you will save us all."

Hermione nodded, "I'm ready." Dumbledore held out the note for her and she took it, tucking it into her bag with the rest of her things.

"Severus?" Dumbledore said holding out the Time Turner for him to take. "Activate it as I showed you." Snape pointed his wand at the Time Turner and mumbled a few words. Then, as the rings began to spin he put the necklace around her neck. "It will take you where you need to go so you have the greatest chance of succeeding."

"Good luck, Miss Granger," Snape said looking down at her. The last thing she saw were his dark eyes as she winked out of the Headmaster's office and plummeted into the past.