Hermione's vision was completely clouded by smoke. As it cleared she realised she was pushing a trolley with some trunks on it. A train whistle was heard and as she looked around she found 11-year-old Harry grinning at her.
"It worked!"
Hermione began taking in her surroundings. A large clock towered over them showing them the time: 10:00 am, an hour before the Hogwarts Express that was stationary in front of her, would leave. She was wearing muggle clothing as was Harry in front of her, his unruly hair covering his scar. On his trolley, he too had trunks, and a very much alive Hedwig. Thinking back to her first day at this station she realised that her parents, the parents she hadn't seen in years, were just on the other side of the wall.
She realised that being back here could mean so many things. Sirius didn't have to die. Wormtail might not make it to Voldemort. She and Harry didn't have to fall for the Weasley's tricks. She felt her heart swell with joy and tears began pricking her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and followed Harry along the platform.
"Hermione?" She heard a familiar voice call. She turned and saw her mother and father following as they stepped out of the barrier labelled Platform 9 3/4. She ran back to them, leaving her trolley by Harry as she rushed to embrace them both. She tried not to cry, she'd done so much in the last 24 hours but as she felt their arms around her, she felt tears race down her cheeks. She couldn't believe she'd never gone back for them. That she'd never saved them from a life without her - or rather, saved herself from a life without them. She wouldn't let that happen this time. She wasn't losing them again.
"Ah see, I knew she'd miss us," her dad smiled as he pulled away from the hug, "So quick to run ahead but the moment she left she came running straight back." His laugh was music to her ears.
"We'll miss you too, sweetheart," her mother said, her arms still around her daughter. As she looked over her shoulder, she saw the young boy with Hermione's trolley coming back towards them. "Made a friend already, I see?"
"Hello, I'm Harry, I'm in Hermione's year, nice to meet you." Hermione pulled away, embarrassed by her very emotional reaction, quickly wiping her tears away.
"I expect you to take good care of my daughter while she's studying with you then, boy," Hermione's father said in mock strictness.
"Of course, sir," Harry said, smiling as he shook Mr Granger's hand.
After some light small talk, Hermione finally said her goodbyes to her parents, and she and Harry headed to the train and found an empty compartment. Though the train wouldn't be moving for a while longer, they changed into their robes. As they sat down, Hermione began asking Harry about his life after Hogwarts. So Harry explained.
The Potters were amongst the richest magical families in Britain, an already fairly well-known fact. However, they also made investments in major Muggle companies, many of which Hermione recognised. After discovering that he'd been under a potion for so long, and after other incidents, which he only mentioned vaguely to Hermione, so she chose not to press, knowing he'd tell her in time, he eventually found out about the Potter fortune and essentially went into hiding in Wales. Life was better, but not good, that's why he'd decided to change it.
Hermione also spoke about her previous life with Ron. The fights, the shouting, everything. With the more things she vented about, Harry showed more outrage on his face, which looked rather comical considering he was now an eleven-year-old child. As she spoke, Hermione felt a lump in her throat. Though her time with Ron was foggy, and she really wasn't too sure of what had happened in the last few years - she'd left in such a rush - she still remembered the pain, the longing for freedom, her enslavement to Ron. She hadn't really thought when she ran through whatever the small box was with Harry, she just did. She thought she should've cared a bit more, considering she had left her children behind, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. In her mind, they were smoky shadows, small creatures that further bound her to Ron. In a strange way, she slightly resented them. Should she feel guilty for that? She didn't know; now they would never exist, never be tormented by their father or neglected by their mother, maybe it was better for them to never exist to begin with.
"How did you know the box would work, Harry?"
"Well, it took me a couple of years, and it was hard to test." The excitement and chatter of more children coming onto the platform entered the compartment through the open window. The patter of their footsteps echoed down the train corridor. "It was a struggle making the box to begin with really. I had a couple of time turners in my possession from my days as an Auror. It's a mix of transfiguration and charms spells that made them into that box." Hermione was enraptured by this. "I started throwing things in, realising they just wouldn't come back. So I decided to find some stuff from my Hogwarts days and make a change to them before sending them back through and then going to find them. Old notebooks and robes and stuff. They had the little marks and tears I'd made so I assumed they'd gone back in time, and come all the way back. The only problem was, I worried we'd come through as adults, but then I realised that would mean a smaller me and an adult me would be running around."
"So, how did you fix that?"
"I didn't," he laughed nervously, "I just kind of hoped the universe would do me a favour? And it did! So it's fine." Hermione laughed. Properly and sincerely. She laughed and it felt so good to just laugh. She was so glad the universe had finally done them a favour.
As she calmed down, she voiced to Harry their need for a plan if they were going to 'do things properly this time'.
"Well," he began, "Let's cut Voldemort off from the start, let's get Pettigrew at some point this year."
"I guess that means getting in Gryffindor again. That way we can get close to him easily."
"You know... I hadn't even considered housing arrangements... I probably would have chosen Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw just to distance myself from Ron" Harry laughed, "Glad you came with me Hermione, or I would have no idea what I'm doing."
Hermione's heart missed a beat. She had really missed her best friend and even though she had more or less ignored him for so long, he seemed to have forgiven her incredibly quickly.
"It'll also probably be nice to have something familiar, no matter what happened after our years here, I always loved Gryffindor house," Harry said.
"Yeah, McGonagall was right when she said they would become like a family," Hermione agreed, "And it'll be good for your reputation."
"I don't really care about that though, Hermione."
"So? Other people do. You don't want to get yourself sorted into Slytherin because people will immediately dub you the next Dark Lord; sure, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad choices, but if we're trying to fix things, it's probably best that the rest of the wizarding world thinks that you are their Golden Hero Saviour Who Lived, you know?"
Before Harry could reply, the sound of the door of their compartment opening was heard and in stepped the one person Hermione had dreaded seeing. Ronald Weasley.
"I heard Harry Potter's on the train. Have you seen him?"
Hermione bowed her head, physically recoiling from Ronald. Though he was only 11, and though the physical pain would never even exist, he had hurt her immeasurably and that would stick with her. Harry stepped in noticing Hermione's response, "Not yet, mate. Let me know if you see him."
"Yeah right," he replied rudely, "if I find him he's mine." With that, he marched off.
"Wow!" Harry laughed. "You'd think I'm some sort of collectable item."
Soon after, a young, clearly very nervous boy knocked on the compartment door.
"I'm really sorry, but has anyone seen a toad? I've lost him, and I don't know what to do." He sounded ready to cry. Last time, he'd had Hermione helping him look for Trevor, this time he appeared to be completely alone. Neither of them had seen Neville in years, they couldn't really be sure of what had happened to him after they left Hogwarts.
"Don't worry," she said with a smile, "I know a spell to bring him to us. Accio Toad." Trevor zoomed into the open door of the compartment, and into Hermione's lap. Neville gaped at her in complete awe. "That was amazing! Thank you!" He scooped Trevor into his arms, and he turned to leave.
"Hey, why don't you sit with us?" Harry said as he began to step out of the compartment.
"Really?" Neville's smile was bright, and he very happily sat with them.
The next 2 hours were more or less uneventful, they spoke and ate and laughed until 3 people Hermione and Harry had totally forgotten about came charging into the compartment.
"You're Harry Potter aren't you?" It didn't seem that Draco needed a scar to recognise people.
"Yes, and you are?"
"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. Have you considered the house you'll be going into?"
"Well we were both considering Gryffindor," Hermione said; she was treading cautiously, Draco had been rather awful in the previous timeline. Even though he tried to redeem himself, at the end of the day, he had been the reason that Death Eaters were able to take over Hogwarts, he had nearly killed Katie Bell and Dumbledore and least of all he had been terribly cruel to Hermione. Considering his case though, Hermione was sure they could prevent that from happening again, he was essentially just a boy guided by the wrong men and the guy standing in front of them hadn't done anything wrong. Yet.
"And you are?" He turned to face Hermione. He wasn't sneering as such, it was more that he was sizing her up; if she was with the Boy-Who-Lived then perhaps she too was worth something.
"Hermione Granger"
He paused, contemplating. "I don't recognise the name. No matter, consider Slytherin. It's the best house in Hogwarts."
"It's also down in the dungeons," Hermione pointed out.
"It's the people that make a house, not the room," Draco replied, "All I'm saying is think about it, it'd do you some good."
"Alright then," Harry said, "Thanks."
With that, the boys stepped out of the compartment leaving Harry and Hermione alone. Young Draco didn't seem all bad, he was just a little arrogant. Perhaps it was to cover up the anxieties of being alone at Hogwarts; he almost seemed eager to make friends with Harry and Hermione. Of course, he wasn't aware of Hermione's blood status, but maybe he could be convinced that it didn't matter.
A couple of hours later and they arrived at Hogwarts. Hagrid was outside shouting for the "Firs' Years". Harry and Hermione headed over and got into a boat with Neville and someone else called Terry Boot. They headed over to the castle and once again listened to Professor McGonagall's 'your house is your family' speech'. The grand doors to the Great Hall began to open, and they entered, ready for The Sorting.
21/02/2022 - Bigger changes made to this chapter - like actually trying to explain The Box. Also, I felt it was really weird that Hermione's parents wouldn't come through with her onto the platform in the previous version I wrote, so I thought, why not make a reunion :) Also! Neville! (Didn't talk about him enough last time)
Hope you enjoy the updated chapter - I love reading your guys' comments, some of you are actually hilarious, please keep leaving them!!