Harry Potter and all related characters and places are owned by JK Rowling - I just make them dance for my own amusement.

~xxx~

A cool breeze blew against the skin of First Year student Hermione Granger. She sniffed and rubbed her reddened nose, squinting through swollen eyes into the night sky. The stars were particularly prominent that night, and for a moment she found herself forgetting her reason for being out there entirely. She had been called names by a group of Slytherin girls. That, coupled with a few stupid remarks from Ron, had caused her to burst into tears and run from the castle. As far as her friends knew, she was hiding in a bathroom or some other secret place. Instead, she was making her way across the grounds, her route completely improvised and unknown.

She ran a hand through her bushy hair, and found her fingers caught in several knots. She let out another sob and let her arm fall to her side. At this point, all she wanted was to be away from the castle and her so-called 'friends'. As she continued to stare skywards, she found herself nearly tripping over something. A tree root was jutting out from the grass. Pausing, the young girl took a moment to observe her surroundings. She was further from the castle than she had realised; the lake was a short walk away, and the lights of Hogwarts seemed fairly distant. Struggling to her feet, she decided that perhaps it would be sensible to return before she got lost. However, as she was dusting her robes off, she heard something.

Someone was laughing.

She stopped dead, eyes darting around to find the source of the noise. To her left and up a small hill was a large bush, easily big enough to conceal a person from view. Curiosity taking over, she crept forwards, careful to keep herself low to the ground. She considered lighting her wand – a skill she had been told would only be taught in the Second Year – but decided against it; that would simply alert whoever was nearby, if they hadn't already seen her. She continued up the hill, moving closer to the bush as she went. She heard another laugh; there was definitely someone on the other side of the foliage. Drawing her cloak tighter around herself to prevent it snagging on something, Hermione crouched next to the branches, hoping to spot whoever was there through them. She could make out some of the lights from Hogwarts through the dense leaves, and after a few moments a few more seemed to appear; clearly someone was standing there, but in the complete darkness she could only make out their vague silhouette against the castle lights.

As if answering her, the almost full moon poked out from behind a cloud. It didn't provide much light, but it was enough to give the stranger a more defined edge. Ducking her head slightly to get a better look, Hermione saw that the person wasn't alone. Another figure was standing beside them, previously invisible due to their lack of movement. The two were clearly wearing robes. Were they students? Judging by their height, they had to at least be in the upper years. One was slightly taller than the other, and had their hair in a ponytail. Hermione assumed that particular person was female, but the other stranger's cloak was billowing too much in the breeze to give an indication of their build. She paused, straining her ears to hear what was being said.

"-said he was visiting his parents' house," the shorter figure said. The voice was definitely female, and judging by the tone she was indeed a fair few years older than Hermione.

"Did Ginny go wiz 'im?" the other replied. The speaker was definitely not English. Hermione wasn't sure, but to her the accent sounded French.

"I don't think he would have been able to do it without her," the first woman said. "I can't imagine what it must be like…"

"Zen do not, ma chéri," the French woman moved closer and placed an arm around the shoulders of the other. "Do not let it spoil zis wonderful evening."

"Sorry," the other woman replied with a small laugh. "I always seem to ruin the mood, don't I?"

"It is difficult to ruin a mood as nice as zis, afterall-"

A twig snapped.

Hermione mentally cursed herself. She had been shuffling forwards to hear better, and had ended up leaning upon a fallen branch. The two figures turned, the taller removing her arm from the other's shoulder.

"You said no one would be 'ere,"

"There shouldn't be…" the other replied. "Lumos." The woman's wand illuminated the area, and Hermione was finally able to see their faces. The shorter woman had a thick mane of bushy hair, not dissimilar to her own, while the taller was blonde. With the harsh shadows caused by the spell's light, she couldn't make out the brunette's eyes, but the Frenchwoman's were clearly visible; piercingly blue.

"Per'aps it was just an animal," the blonde woman suggested, but the other shook her head, taking a couple of steps towards the bush.

"No, I don't think so…" she said quietly. Hermione's breath quickened; if she made a run for it, she would surely be seen anyway. She didn't know who these two were, but students or not, they surely wouldn't take kindly to being found in the grounds at nearly midnight. Steeling herself, she slowly got to her feet, stepping into the stranger's wandlight. The brunette lowered it slightly, reducing the glare from the spell.

"Oh…" was all she said upon seeing the young witch. "Oh dear…"

"You are a long way from ze castle," the Frenchwoman said, moving to her companion's side.

"So are you," Hermione replied before she could stop herself. The witch with her wand raised gave a small smile.

"You shouldn't be here, Hermione Granger," she said, an amused expression upon her face.

"'Ermione…?"

"How do you know my name?" she asked, growing more and more confused by these two women.

"'Ermione, do you mean to say zat zis is…" the blonde trailed off. The other woman nodded.

"That's right, Fleur," she said. "This is me."

Hermione took a step backwards. "What…what do you mean?" she stammered. Without words, the older witch reached into her collar with her free hand, and withdrew a small gold object hanging from a chain. "Is that…is that a Time Turner?" The owner nodded. "But…Time Turners are tightly controlled by the Ministry of Magic," Hermione protested. "You need written permission to use one."

"Which we have," the older woman explained. "At least for tonight."

"Suppose I believe you're telling the truth," Hermione began. "Why come back here? Why now?"

"There is nothing special about this night in particular," she replied. "Simply this year in general…" She glanced over her shoulder at the castle. "This year was so wonderful…"

"Well then you can't be me," Hermione decided. "So far the people here have been rotten to me."

The Frenchwoman giggled. "Mon dieu, you were so adorable, ma chéri," she said, shooting the other woman a playful smile.

"It won't always be so bad," the other woman said, still looking at Hermione.

"Alright...so at some point I will use a Time Turner to travel back to my oh-so-wonderful first year," Hermione said. "And just how exactly do you intend to get back to where you should be? I assume you don't plan on waiting it out?"

"Wiz zis," the French woman reached into her own collar, and withdrew an identical device, silver in colour. "It works exactly ze same way, only ze ozer way around. Zere were even tighter rules surrounding zese versions."

"But where you come from, they just allow you to travel back and forth through time?"

"No, not at all," the brunette explained. "We were simply given permission for this one visit."

"Okay…" Hermione looked away for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "Just how far in my future are you from?"

"About nine years," she replied.

"So…I assume the Ginny you talked about was Ronald's sister?" she asked.

"That's right. She's going to become one of your closest friends when she comes to Hogwarts."

"And her?" She gestured at the French woman. "I didn't know Hogwarts had any foreign students."

"I am not from 'Ogwarts," she answered, almost proudly.

"You will meet Fleur just before your Third Year," the older witch explained. "And…" She smiled. "You will fall in love."

"What?"

"Don't you zink you are giving away 'alf the fun?" the French witch asked, but the other woman just continued smiling.

"It doesn't matter, Fleur," she said. "You see…I don't remember a single moment of this encounter, which means-"

"You're going to wipe my memory," Hermione finished, matter-of-factly.

"Well if I don't, what is to stop you running over to Fleur the first time you meet and simply telling her you are 'meant to be'?" the older woman said, chuckling to herself. "As fun as that would be, that is not the way things are meant to go." Her expression became slightly more serious. "And if I remember correctly, even at this point you have read about what can happen to people when they are told their own futures."

"In rare cases they can go mad, knowing that they are destined to live out a series of events over which they have no control," Hermione recited.

"Exactly. Now while I doubt you…I…would go mad, it would be better to not run that risk," the brunette said. "Besides, learning that you are destined to fall in love with another woman is not the sort of information you should really impart to an eleven year old girl."

"Twelve," the younger witch said flatly. "It was my birthday last month."

"Ah...so it is October," the French woman said, giving her companion a sideways look. "I was right."

"You realise you are going to have to render me unconscious as well," Hermione said. "Even if you erase my memories of meeting you, I'll see you straight away – and you can't Disapparate from the Hogwarts grounds."

"I hadn't thought of that," the older witch said. Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"I hope that is not a sign of things to come…" she mused. The French woman chuckled.

"Oh, I like 'er," she said with a smile.

"Oh be quiet, dear, or I'll leave you behind," the brunette said with a playful smirk. "Anyway, I believe we should indeed be on our way."

"Oui," the French woman said. "Just give me a moment." She knelt in front of Hermione, those piercing blue eyes sparkling in the wandlight. "I just want you to know, zat right now, across ze sea, zere is a young French girl who dreams of finding 'er Prince." She smiled. "Or indeed, 'er Princess. When she sees you for ze first time, she will know zat you are ze one; 'er only true love. She will 'ide it at first, as will you. But wiz 'er, you will create a love so powerful 'zat noz'ing can break it."

"Fleur, she isn't going to remember any of that…"

"I know, I just….I just wanted to say…."

"I understand."

The light went out.

"Obliviate."