Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As promised, here's a HG/LM 'one' shot - chapter 1 of 3 (probably)

Please forgive me for my non-canon timeturner lore!

Typically, on a Wednesday, Miss Hermione Granger would not be seen walking through the halls of the Ministry, Wednesdays after all were the one day off she got all week. Today however she had a very important appointment to make.

Hermione spent most of her time working as a lawyer, the best in the Ministry of course, and on weekends worked under Professor Snape at Hogwarts towards an apprenticeship in potions.

Her visit to the Ministry this particular Wednesday however had nothing to do with her job or her apprenticeship, today was a personal visit. It was soon to be Harry's twenty-first birthday and she had wanted to get him something truly special for it. Hermione had thought endlessly about what she could get but nothing seemed to be right. Last year she'd managed to get him a quaffle signed by his favourite Quidditch team, the year before, a scrapbook of their time at Hogwarts together, but, considering he was Harry Potter, there wasn't much he wanted that he didn't already have.

Or so she thought, until one day he had commented, in passing, how he wished he had more pictures of his parents.

It was then that Hermione realised exactly what she could get him, and that was why she was at the Ministry today. To use a timeturner.

The use of timeturners was very strictly controlled but, having helped the head of the department on a particularly nasty case, Hermione had managed to get authorised use of one fairly easily.

She was to go back to three different dates and places where Lily and James were known to have been, take some pictures, and return. The Ministry had given her the use of the timeturner for the whole day so she wanted to make the best use of it while she could.

Hermione crossed the Ministry atrium and got into an elevator, its doors closing, when suddenly someone stopped them, a cane holding them open. She was joined by none other than Lucius Malfoy.

After a lengthy trial the Malfoy patriarch had avoided a return trip to Azkaban and had, somehow, worked his way back into the Ministry. His family had broken up, he and Narcissa supposedly amicably divorced and his relationship with his son slowly recovering. Hermione didn't trust him, and at times she was sure she still hated him, but she could not deny that he was an impressive man, in terms of his work ethic, of course, definitely not anything else…

"Miss Granger." He said, inclining his head.

"Mister Malfoy." She replied with a smile, unable to deny that she that she wore it not only out of politeness.

Lucius and she had spoken occasionally in the last few years, but it had only ever been to discuss business, their relationship never going beyond niceties. To be honest, at first, she was surprised that he could be cordial to her at all, let alone pleasant, so unsurprisingly had been taken aback the first time he had called her Miss Granger instead of mudblood.

Looking at him out of the corner of her eye, she could see he had aged very little since the first day they met, he stood tall and proud as ever, his platinum hair tied back with a black ribbon lined with silver thread, his body still clearly well muscled from his days as one of Voldemort's elite.

She sometimes wondered if, given the chance, she would like to get to know Lucius better. He would undoubtedly be interesting to talk to and despite some of his extremely poor choices in life he was clearly of high intelligence, something regrettably many of her friends lacked these days.

The elevator stopped and another wizard got in, carrying a large cage full of what were most definitely Cornish pixies. Hermione noticed Lucius resist the urge to sneer at the man and simply stiffened, trying to give the creatures as much space as he could. Hermione managed to catch Lucius' eye and they silently shared their frustration with certain wizards lack of propriety, something which seemed an all too common occurrence at the Ministry these days.

The rest of their ride was spent in silence before the doors opened and, giving her a nod of farewell, Lucius left. As he did however, a pixie decided to tug on his ribbon and his hair fell loose. He turned, his grey eyes full of venom, but it was too late, the door had closed and with a clunk the elevator started to speed away from him.

The wizard holding the cage seemed to have broken out into a nervous sweat, clearly realising who he had just angered.

"Don't worry." Hermione reassured him, pulling the ribbon from the pixie's hand, not exactly an easy feat. "I'll get this back to him."

The ribbon was soft and smooth as she ran in between her fingers, and she did plan on returning it to him, eventually, but right now she had to keep to her schedule, hoping the man wouldn't run into Lucius before she got the chance.

Hermione arrived in the Ministry archives where the time turners were kept, and was directed towards an old looking wizard hunched over a desk, seemingly deeply interested in the papers he was reading. She walked over and stood in front of the man expectantly, not wanting to interrupt him as she knew how frustrating that could be when you were focused on something important. The man was quite thin, although not unhealthily so, with white hair and a short, neat beard, Hermione getting the sense that he was perhaps going to be the embodiment of 'the grumpy old man'.

She wasn't disappointed.

He sighed heavily after a minute and looked up at her, as if he had been expecting her to leave if he waited long enough, annoyed that she was still there.

"How can I help you?" He asked, his tone sounding far less helpful than his words.

"Hello." She greeted with a lukewarm smile, not one to particularly like being treated so rudely. "I have an appointment to use one of the timeturners, and I believe you are the one to talk to."

The man didn't acknowledge what she said but did bring out a large folder from under his desk, flipping through the pages.

"Name?" He asked without looking up.

"Hermione Granger." She replied coolly.

"Ah, Miss Granger." He said with what appeared to be a genuine smile, finally making eye contact with her, and Hermione wasn't surprised that he had responded much more politely upon hearing her name, it was something that seemed to happen to her a lot.

Hermione wasn't one to use her fame for personal gain, that just wasn't who she was, but sometimes, like today, she was grateful that it could help to move things along. Harry shared her views on the matter, Ronald however, took full advantage of it, and it was this, amongst a multitude of other reasons, that had caused her to break up with him almost over two years ago now.

"Right." Said the man as he got up. "Follow me."

They walked through the corridors at a swift pace, Hermione surprised that the old wizard could move so fast. Eventually they came to a shining bronze door where they stopped. The wizard performed several unlocking charms, some Hermione had never even heard of, and the door opened.

"Sorry." He apologised as he led her inside. "As you can understand, we have to keep security fairly tight."

She nodded in agreement, knowing all too well how restricted the use of timeturners had to be. The reasons, however, where not what many thought them to be. When she had used one back in second year, McGonagall had told her that 'whatever is, has already happened'. At first, she had been confused, of course whatever is, has already happened, that's how the world worked, but then she realised what her former Head of House had meant.

Many feared that if you went back in time you could drastically alter events, save someone from death, change history, but that was not the case at all. It was just as McGonagall had said, the fact that something was today, meant that it must have already happened, including whatever it was that you went and did in the past on your timeturner trip. In theory, not that it had ever been tested, if one hundred people all went back in time to kill Voldemort, it would be pointless, because the present would tell us that they'd all failed.

No, the use was restricted primarily because of the precarious and rare nature of the devices. They were originally created in order to go back in time to clarify and document historical events, not to be used for people wanting to go and see long lost relatives for example. So, to prevent demand for them from getting out of hand, not to mention the consequences of wizards popping up all over history, their usage was restricted, protecting the secret that they were relatively harmless by surrounding them with a somewhat dangerous aura.

The room she was in was small, only containing a table in the centre with a couple of chairs, the walls covered in small golden drawers. The wizard walked over to one numbered 97 and, taking a very large ring of keys out of his pocket, unlocked the draw and brought over the timeturner from inside.

"I understand you are familiar with how they work." He asked with a strange glint in his eye that she couldn't quite place.

"Yes." She confirmed, not entirely sure how he knew that.

"Well then, I'll let you get on with it, knock on the door three times to get out." He said, passing her the timeturner and making his way from the room. "Oh, and the date book is on the table." He called as the door shut and locked behind him.

Hermione picked up the large tome he referred to and flicked to the relevant pages. The book told you how many turns you needed to make to go back to the time you were after, so she wanted to make sure she got the right one, careful not to rip the pages as she noted a previous user clearly had. Once she'd noted the turns she would have to make to get there and back, she put the device around her neck and prepared herself, making sure her beaded bag was safely hanging across her shoulder.

Using a time turner was an excitement that Hermione would never tire of, and she loved the thrill she got and the tingles she felt in her fingers as the device started to spin in her hands.

First she had gone to James and Lily’s wedding. It was an event attended by a lot of people, just as she'd read it would be, so it was easy for her to get some good pictures unnoticed.

Second, was their Hogwarts graduation, yet another place that it would be easy to blend into the crowd of relatives and friends.

It was then that she came to her third and final destination, the pairs first year at Hogwarts. She knew it would be harder, but she thought Harry would particularly like a picture of them from this time.

She had positioned herself so that she would appear in the girl’s bathroom, well, Myrtle's bathroom, banking on the fact that it would be as deserted as it was in her own time.

Thankfully, she was right.

Hermione went into one of the cubicles, quietly so as to not alert Myrtle to her presence, and changed into an old school uniform she had managed to get her hands on from the time. Unfortunately, it wasn't from Gryffindor, but she hoped being a Ravenclaw for the day wouldn't be too awful…

On her way out of the bathroom she checked her appearance in the mirror, deciding that, although she was already twenty one herself, she could still pass for a seventh year. The uniform wasn't too different from her own, the skirt an inch or two longer, the jumper perhaps a bit darker, but nothing else had changed much.

Before she came back, Hermione had been unsure how she would be able to find both of them in the large castle, not to mention finding a legitimate excuse to take pictures of them, but, after doing the proper research, had found an old timetable for first years for this particular year at Hogwarts.

It was for this reason that Hermione found herself walking towards the Quidditch pitch where both were supposed to be having a lesson in half an hours time. On her way she was careful not to draw too much attention to herself, especially from any members of staff who might notice it more if they hadn't seen her around before. She was unsurprised to see that the castle had changed little, looking almost exactly as it did today as it did in her own time, even the smell of lunch wafting from the great hall was familiar.

On her walk through the grounds, she spotted a young girl in Gryffindor colours sitting with what looked to be a Slytherin boy and, upon getting closer, realised that her luck was in and she'd already managed to find Lily.

"Hello." Hermione said cheerily as she approached, camera in hand.

"Hi." Lily said back smiling, Hermione having to compose herself as she noticed the girl's eyes. She truly did have Harry's eyes.

The boy next to Lily seemed to be looking at Hermione slightly suspiciously, but greeted her with a 'hello' anyway, albeit it a rather subdued one. He was quite tall and lean already, despite only being a first year, and had long black hair that covered his eyes slightly, Hermione unable to shake the feeling that he looked so very familiar.

"Would you mind if I took a picture." Hermione asked as naturally as she could. "I'm applying to write for the school paper and I'm doing a piece about friendship across the houses that you two would make a perfect photo for." She lied easily.

"Sure." Said Lily, nudging the boy next to her who looked a little unwilling. "Come on Severus, it's just a photo."

Severus. Of course it was Severus. How could Hermione not have realised?

"Alright…" He grumbled, but smiled as Lily put her arm around him as they posed for the picture.

"Thanks." Said Hermione once she'd taken it. "Here." She added as she magically developed a few copies of the photo and handed them each one. "Just in case I never get published." She joked, but, in truth, thought Severus in particular might like the picture of them both.

"Thank you." Said Lily. "Hey, look Severus, it's a really nice one don't you think?" She commented as she looked down at the pair of them smiling together on the bench, the grounds and castle in the background.

"Yeah." He replied, his mouth turned up at the corner. "It is."

"Thank you." He said, looking to Hermione, his words so genuine that her heart ached just a little, knowing what was going to happen to his friendship with the girl he loved one day. She had seen into Snape's memories that had been given to Harry and the next day had simply pulled her professor into a hug, surprised that he let her embrace him for a lengthy ten seconds before looking awkward and carrying on with his lesson. Seeing him with the girl he loved for herself was almost too much.

"No problem at all." Hermione said as she continued on her way down to the pitches. "And thanks again." She called back with a wave.

Although Hermione knew that nothing she could do would change the future, she didn't like to interact with people too much, especially people she knew, so didn't want to stay talking to Lily, not to mention Severus, for longer than she had to.

Hermione made her way into the stands that overlooked the practice pitch, settling in a spot near the front so that she'd be able to get a good picture. She waited patiently for the students, and hopefully James, to arrive but was soon distracted by her hair blowing into her face, completely obscuring her view. Cursing her wild hair, not to mention the strong wind today, she felt about in her pockets for something to tie it back with, making a mental note that she either needed to bring one with her in the future, or at least learn how to transfigure something into one.

Her fingers came across something that felt appropriate, only to find that it was Lucius' ribbon from earlier. Although it would have been perfect for the job, at that very moment, someone flew right past her, making her jump, and subsequently let go of the ribbon. She didn't notice however until it had flown halfway across the pitch.

"Damn it!" She cursed out loud. Now she no longer had something to deal with the hair problem, but she'd just lost Lucius Malfoy's ribbon, not that he wouldn't be able to afford a new one, but she suspected from his reaction earlier that perhaps it was important to him.

"Here." A deep voice said from next to her, its owner's face currently hidden behind the hair that was once again impairing her vision. "This should help." He said as he passed her another ribbon and sat down next to her.

"Thanks." She said, looking down at it. This one was a dark green, and had some letters embroidered at either end in silver thread, an 'L' at one, an 'M' at the other. Pushing her hair out of her eyes and securely tying it back, adding a charm to make sure it wouldn't come undone, she was about to ask him what the letters stood for but, finally turning to look at him, she didn't have to.

Sat next to her was a boy, if you could still call him that, who must have been in his seventh year. He wore Slytherin colours, he was tall, handsome, very handsome in fact, his eyes were grey and he had long hair, platinum blonde.

There really was only one person this could be, and only one thing those letters could stand for.

Lucius Malfoy.

Chapter Text

“I don’t believe we’ve met.” He said smoothly. “Lucius Malfoy. And you are?”

“Hermione.” She responded without thinking.

He raised an expectant eyebrow.

“Granger.” She added, chastising herself instantly for seeming to be unable to hide her identity even a little bit.

“I see.” He said, not with a sneer as she would have expected after hearing her clearly muggle name, but with the slightest smile.

Hermione figured Lucius must be nearing the end of his last year at Hogwarts but he seemed far older than eighteen. There was this air about him that should belong to a much older man, someone who’d been through a lot. Perhaps he already had, the first wizarding war was brewing and Lucius had undoubtedly been drawn into some part of it already because of his father.

“You’re not a student here are you.” He stated casually, so confident in his assumption and clearly untroubled by it. “I’m sure I would have noticed you before if you attended here.”

Hermione blushed, she shouldn’t have but she did, there was something about Lucius that seemed to make her feel like a schoolgirl with a crush.

She’d always found him attractive but it was something she’d never really admitted to herself. He was her enemy, he was prejudiced, she shouldn’t like him therefore she’d pretended to herself that she didn’t. Seeing him like this though she couldn’t seem to help herself. He was young and beautiful, no less so than he looked in her own time, but different, and this was before all the evil things he’d done in his life so admitting how he made her feel was so much easier.

“You’re the first person to notice.” She admitted freely, there wasn’t much point in denying it now. “I’m a journalist doing a piece on friendship between the houses.”

Fortunately, she managed to lie this time, keeping up a consistent story from earlier too. It wouldn’t be good for people to know she was from the future, that was when they could ask questions she really shouldn’t be answering.  

“Ah I see, that sounds like an intriguing piece.” He said, looking pensively out at the quidditch pitch. “I’m assuming you have permission to be here.” He asked somewhat jokingly, knowing she couldn’t be here had she not.

“Oh yes, McGonagall gave me the all clear.” She played along.

He looked slightly confused but seemed to accept what she’d said, Hermione having forgotten that Professor Dumbledore was the head of Hogwarts in this time.

Hermione knew she should try and get away from Lucius soon, she really didn’t want to interact with people too much, but then again, she had until midnight to get the timeturner back, and part of her didn’t quite want to go just yet.

“I could show you around if you like.” Lucius offered somewhat spontaneously.

“Don’t you have classes this afternoon?” Hermione asked, finally wondering what exactly Lucius was in fact doing out here.

“I got some big news today so I’ve been let out of my classes for the rest of the day.” He explained, a sombre edge to his voice.

“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to say. “I hope you’re alright.”

“No, no. I shouldn’t feel bad about it, I’m just, I don’t know, I suppose I didn’t realise I would be disappointed even though I knew it was coming…sorry, I don’t know why I’m telling you this, I doubt you would understand.”

Hermione searched her brain for what might have got him so down. Maybe it was being forced into his father’s footsteps and getting involved with Voldemort, but she doubted he would be regretting that at this time, it wasn’t until his family was threatened that Lucius truly started to regret. Besides, the school wouldn't exactly give him the afternoon off for joining the dark side, Hermione almost laughing at the absurdity of the thought. It must be something else but she couldn't think what.

“Well I can leave you be if you like.” Hermione offered, a little disappointed that she wouldn’t get to spend more time with him but wanting to give him some space.

“No.” He said quickly. “I could really use the distraction, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not.” She smiled, trying not to think on why she was going along with this. It would be a waste to go back now she tried to convince herself, it wasn’t often one got the chance to spend the day 28 years in the past, and perhaps it would help her to understand Lucius who had intrigued her for so long, to gain a better grasping of his view of the world that she sometimes found it so hard to comprehend.

“But I’m almost done here at the castle and was planning on going into Hogsmeade.” She added. Hermione really didn’t think staying in the castle or it’s grounds would be a good idea, it just meant that she’d see more people who could potentially question her being there when they inevitably didn’t recognise her. “Unless you’re not allowed off the grounds without permission of course.”

“That sounds like a good idea, I think getting away from the castle for a bit might help." He agreed. "And it shouldn’t be a problem, being a prefect has its perks.” He added with a dashing smile.

They headed out of the stadium together, Hermione managing to subtly snap a picture of James flying by as they did having almost forgotten that that was why she had come here in the first place.

As they left the pitch someone called after Lucius, Hermione surprised to see Severus running towards them in his quidditch gear.

“What is it Severus?” Lucius asked with what Hermione could only describe as a brotherly smile.

He blushed slightly but pushed forward past his shyness. “I was wondering if your friend would like me to take a picture of the two of you for her article.”’

Hermione couldn’t help but feel touched by Severus’ offer. The picture she had taken of him and Lily must have meant a lot to him and, perhaps, somehow, he knew that taking a picture of Lucius and she would mean a lot to her too. Strange. It was as if now it didn’t mean a lot to her, but she had this feeling that in the future it would. Time. What a funny thing it was.

Before she got the chance to agree, Lucius spoke.

“Thank you Severus, that sounds like an excellent idea.”

Snape looked very pleased that Lucius approved of his idea, it seemed as though he really looked up to the Malfoy heir.

Hermione pulled her camera out of her bag and handed it to Severus, hoping dearly that neither of them would notice that the model was well beyond anything in their time, it was cutting edge even for her own.

She wasn’t entirely sure how to pose but Lucius took the lead for her, offering her his arm which she took gently, leaning into him ever so slightly.

The smile came seemingly naturally as she stood arm in arm with him. It shouldn’t have, but it did, and part of her couldn’t help but wonder what her life would have been like if she was from this time, or if he was from her own at this age.

She was snapped from her reverie when Severus ran up to show them both the picture.

“You both look great.” He beamed, clearly happy with his work. It was strange for Hermione to see him in such high spirits, she rarely had in all the time she’d known him. Only recently had she seen him anything close to what she would call happy, and it made her sad to think that he would have a life filled with so much sorrow.

They really did look great in the picture. Hermione had to admit that she wasn’t usually the most photogenic of people but magically in this particular photo she’d managed to look rather nice. Perhaps it was the perfect specimen of a man that was standing next to her who had helped to make her look better. He exuded confidence and beauty, and she supposed it must have rubbed off.

“Would you mind if I had a copy too.” Lucius asked, sounding almost tentative. Hermione doubted Lucius could every sound truly tentative after all, always so sure in himself. “Just in case you never get published.” He added jokingly, almost using her exact words from earlier.

“Of course.” She said, trying to hide her surprise as she developed another for him.

“And thank you Severus.” She turned to her young professor. “I hadn’t got one of a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw yet, and this one is perfect.”

Snape started blushing again and mumbled a ‘you’re welcome’ before Lucius sent him back to his quidditch lesson, jokingly saying that he wouldn’t hesitate to dock points for cutting class even from a member of his own house.

They continued to walk through the grounds together in a strangely comfortable silence, only broken when Hermione couldn’t contain her curiosity.

“So are you friends with that boy?” She asked. “Severus was it?”

“Mm, yes.” Lucius said, his mind having clearly been elsewhere. “He’s a first year in my house. He shows great promise both magically and academically but he’s picked on a little, especially by those wretched Gryffindors, so I’ve taken him under my wing a little. Sometimes I worry what will happen to him when I’ve gone…”

Normally Hermione would have found herself affronted at his stab at her house but this time she found herself caring little. She knew that Harry’s father and his friends had tormented Severus, so found it hard to argue with Lucius on this one.

“I’m sure he will be alright.” She lied weakly, knowing all too well that for so much of his life he would not be.

They spent the rest of their walk talking about magic, Lucius impressed by her great knowledge of it, as was she by his. Hermione hadn’t talked with someone like this for so long, someone who shared her passion and understood it at the same level as she. Lucius too seemed to agree with her as he talked freely and animatedly, what appeared to be uncharacteristically so.

He asked her about her hobbies, her job – which she managed to get through by saying she was normally a court journalist so could talk relatively freely about her work as a lawyer. He himself seemed much less enthused by his own career prospects, saying he had little choice in following his father into running the Malfoy estate. It saddened Hermione more that she thought it would, to see this man with so much potential having so little freedom in where his life was going.

“So, tell me about your family?” He asked, no doubt assuming she already knew all about his own, which in a way she did, it was just the family he was yet to have.

“My parents are dead.” She lied sombrely. They weren’t, it was just easier to lie, they couldn’t remember her because she had erased their memory of her…for fear that someone like the man next to her might go after them.

“I’m sorry.” Lucius said sounding genuinely so. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

Hermione almost laughed at how messed up this was, if only Lucius had apologised to her in her own time, but perhaps this was as close as she’d get.

“Muggles, were they?” He asked tentatively, but without the sneer that accompanied that same question when he asked her in back in her second year in Flourish and Blotts.

“Yes.” She nodded.

“Hm.” Lucius mused, a curious expression on his face. “You know, it’s strange, I was always told that muggleborns were...lower-” He said slightly embarrassed. “-Than half bloods but that never made sense to me. The muggle parents would never know that they were going to have a magical child, a new magical person for our world, whereas half-bloods knowingly mixed their blood.”

“None of it makes sense.” Said Hermione strongly. “Where one’s magic comes from does not determine our equality or power”

Lucius stood stunned, Hermione continuing walking on with renewed vigour, doubting anyone had spoken to him like that on the subject before. She knew nothing she did here would change the future, but she had to wonder if their encounter here today had had an effect on him at all, if his future self perhaps remembered her. That was a strange thought. It was unlikely he did, it was almost 20 years later for him when they would meet again, and her 11-year-old self did not exactly look anything like her 21 year old self did. He did know her name though, so perhaps he did, even if he couldn’t place her, the name might ring a distant bell. Maybe she would have to try and find out once she got back.

Lucius soon caught up with her and they continued towards Hogsmeade with not far to go, Hermione taking a few pictures of the scenery and castle as they did.

“I apologise.” Said Lucius with what Hermione could only call sincerity. “I did not mean to offend you.”

Two apologies from Lucius Malfoy in the space of ten minutes, now that had to be a record.

She didn’t want to say it was okay, because it wasn’t, so she simply nodded half-heartedly in acknowledgement.

Hermione had to wonder, what had changed him from this relatively reasonable person into the man he would become. Someone who hated her kind, wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone like her, let alone call them mudblood. She expected Voldemort had played a large part in that…

Finally, they reached Hogsmede and just like Hogwarts, it had changed little. A few of the shops looked different but it was essentially the same.

They walked along looking through all the shop windows when suddenly Hermione spotted something that stopped her in her tracks.

There, in a tailor shop, was a display of different ribbons. They came in all different sizes, textures and colours but the one that caught Hermione’s attention was black, and smooth, lined with silver thread.

So this is where Lucius must have got the ribbon from that the pixies stole…

“What is it?” Lucius asked, snapping her from her thoughts.

“Oh, it’s just the ribbon I lost which blew away earlier, it looks just like that black one there.” Hermione explained, pointing it out. “I think I’ll just pop in a get a replacement.” She added, the two of them going into the shop.

What good luck, she would be able to replace Lucius’ ribbon from her own time, keeping her promise to the man with the pixies and hopefully returning something to Lucius that she expected meant something special to him.

“It is a very pretty ribbon.” Lucius commented as she paid for it, Hermione happy she had quite a bit of money stored away in her little pink bag otherwise she would have been in a bit of a pickle.

“It is, isn’t it.” She agreed, sure it was the same ribbon as before, it felt just as smooth between her fingers.

Hermione felt very pleased with herself as they left the shop. Not only had she achieved her goal and gotten some great pictures for Harry’s birthday present, but she’d managed to resolve losing Lucius’ ribbon and gained a valuable insight into his past self.

She was so caught up in her successful mission in fact that she didn’t see the children running down the street, and when she did, it was too late. They crashed into her and she fell to the ground with a thud, Lucius' outstretched hand missing her by a millimetre as she did.

It wasn’t the grazes she could feel on her knees that bothered her, nor the sharp pain in her ankle, but the unmistakable crunch of the timeturner against her chest.

Chapter Text

Here's the final chapter, perhaps the last thing I'll be writing for a while, so I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks to AlesiaG for pointing out a conveniently missed fact in the last chapter that I have hopefully now rectified.

Thoughts rushed through Hermione’s head. How could this be happening? Surely they had protected the timeturner against such simple things as being dropped, but perhaps the time travel messed up the spells. How was she going to get back?

Suddenly she was being lifted off the ground by a pair of strong hands, Lucius picking her up whilst sending scowls at the now quickly fleeing children. Ah, there was the Lucius she knew, the darker man he was going to become clearly inside him somewhere.

“What imbeciles, how vile.” He sneered. “Are you alright Hermione?”

“I think so.” She lied, dusting herself off, trying to frantically think about what she was going to do.

“Are you sure? It looked like you-“

Lucius stopped mid-sentence, his eyes catching the golden shards of the broken timeturner on the ground.

Panic set in quickly for Hermione. She knew he would realise what it was, he was smart, he wouldn’t have to think twice about it. Hermione couldn’t risk Lucius asking about the future, it was likely someone in his position would really want to know how things were going to turn out and she knew she shouldn’t tell him.  

Lucius calmly got out his wand and levitated the pieces off the ground, wrapping them in a black handkerchief and carefully handing them back to her without saying a word.

“Let’s walk.” He said, his voice empty, Hermione unable to sense what he was feeling.

She followed him cautiously, wondering where he was taking her, what he was thinking. His calm demeanour could suggest that he wasn’t bothered about her timeturner use, perhaps he was familiar with it, or maybe he wanted to question her about it where there were less people around. Despite his amenability so far, this was Lucius Malfoy after all, and his motives were hard to guess.

They walked together side by side through Hogsmeade, Hermione’s mind racing, her rational thought fighting with the part of her that wanted to panic.

She could get out of this if she wanted to, it would be all too easy to apparate away, but her curiosity as to how Lucius would react were pushing her to see this through.

They came to the edge of town, to a bench which overlooked the shrieking shack, the normally ominous place feeling strangely less so than usual, Hermione unsure if it was because she knew it was safe in her own time, or if Lucius’ presence took away her fear.

“I figured as much.” Said Lucius, finally breaking the silence as he elegantly took a seat on the bench.

Hermione hesitantly sat down next to him, careful to leave an inch between them on the small piece of wood.

“What do you mean?” She asked, curious as to what he was talking about.

“That you were too good to be true.” He explained with a sigh, carrying on when Hermione’s eyes looked into his, burning with curiosity.

“Today I was told that it had finally happened, that it was set, I will be marrying Narcissa Black and that’s that, I’ll lose everything if I don’t. I will admit that she is a talented, intelligent and beautiful witch, but I barely know her, I wished that I had had the chance to find someone for myself…and then there you were. You see, I always knew I would be getting an arranged marriage, but part of me never quite believed it, that I’d get to choose who I loved. I don’t know what it is Hermione but something about you drew me to you, and then we started talking and I couldn’t help but think, if only I had the chance, the time, that maybe this could be what I didn’t realise I wanted until it was something I could never have.”

Hermione was stunned, unable to think of anything to say whilst her mind processed what Lucius had just said.

“Well I suppose it doesn’t matter that I’m from the future anyway.” Hermione explained with an edge of bitterness that she couldn’t quite explain the presence of. “I’m a muggleborn so I’m sure you wouldn’t have wanted to get to know me for too long anyway."

Lucius looked somewhat taken aback but did not protest her point, unable to deny the prejudices that were ingrained in him. He did not seem to act on them at this age, at least not with his treatment of her, but it was clear that he believed in a set way that things could and couldn’t be.

“I suppose my father would have had a thing or two to say about it…”

“I’m sure he would have many things to say.” Said Hermione, letting out a single exasperated laugh.

“So why is it you’re in this time?” Lucius asked, swiftly moving away from the uncomfortable subject. “You must have some influence in order to have gained permission to use a timeturner.” He guessed. “Unless of course you’ve managed to get a hold of a personal one.”

Since using one so frequently in her third year Hermione sometimes forgot how rare and restricted timeturners were, wondering if McGonagall’s decision to give her one had been entirely wise.

“I’m collecting pictures of some people who are very important to a good friend of mine, and fortunately for me the head of department owed me a big favour.” She explained, not wanting to give away more than that. “There are very few timeturners around in my time that are privately owned.”

“It is much the same now, but who knows what people have hidden away behind closed doors…I wouldn’t be surprised if we had one hidden away at Malfoy Manor that’s been forgotten about.”

Hermione let out a small chuckle. “I suppose it must be pretty easy to lose things in a house that big.”

“Yes it is, and not just possessions too…” Lucius said sombrely, quickly catching himself and moving on. “Have you been there?” He asked. “It sounds as if you’re familiar with the place.”

“Just once.”

The time I was captured and tortured by your soon to be sister in law…

“I see.” He said, not questioning her on it further, perhaps sensing that he shouldn’t. He must know something unusual had occurred for her to have been into the manor though, it was not often a muggleborn would have reason to go to the Malfoy Estate, let alone be invited inside.

They fell quiet after that for a while, Hermione’s thoughts swapping between trying to work out how she was going to get back and for some reason, if she really wanted to go just yet anyway.

“Let me help heal your wounds.” Said Lucius, breaking the silence they had shared as they both looked out at the beautiful and nostalgic scenery. “Looks like the grazes on your legs are still bleeding from your fall earlier”

“So they are.” Said Hermione sounding a little subdued, having not even registered the pain in her legs until Lucius brought her back to reality. She couldn’t stop thinking about what he had said, wondering what her life would have been like had she gone to Hogwarts in this time. “It’s alright though, I can fix them up no problem.”

With a quick wave of her wand the blood disappeared and the wounds closed up neatly, not a trace that they were there.

“That’s some impressive work.” Commented Lucius, now looking closely at her legs. “No sign of the cuts at all.”

“Regrettably I’ve become far too well acquainted with healing spells.” She admitted.

He looked concerned but didn’t question her on it, despite appearing as though he was very curious as to what the answer was. Perhaps he wondered if what was brewing with Voldemort would turn into something far more sinister than everyone thought it would, maybe seeing the signs already of how it might all turn out.

“I think I might be able to help you get back.” Said Lucius. “It’s a long shot but I reckon I can make it work.”

“Really?” Hermione asked excitedly, taking Lucius’ hand in both of her own and squeezing it tightly.

“Yes.” He said with a bright smile.

“Now, the plan is….”

After a quick owl to Slughorn explaining that Lucius had urgent business with his father and would be going to the Ministry for the rest of the day, not forgetting to mention that his time at Hogwarts was almost over so arguing with him would be pointless, Hermione and Lucius found themselves in the Ministry atrium.

Unlike Hogwarts, the Ministry was quite different in this time than the one Hermione was used to, suspecting that it had had a bit of a necessary re-decoration after the first wizarding war.

Hermione followed closely next to Lucius as they walked through the Ministry, trying not to draw any attention to herself.

That, however, seemed to be nearly impossible thanks to Lucius. Even at this age everyone seemed to know who he was, and not just because his long platinum hair made him unmistakable. No one approached them though, it was as if they already seemed to know to keep their distance from the Malfoy heir, out of fear or respect Hermione couldn’t be sure.

Soon they started down some corridors which were all too familiar to Hermione, having walked down them this morning, in the future that is.

Lucius’ plan was to use his influence to persuade them to let Hermione use another timeturner from the Department of Mysteries. It was possible they might refuse, she had already broken one of the incredibly rare devices so far after all, but they were betting on the fact that the department wouldn’t want someone from so far in the future around in their own time for too long. She would be far too much of a liability.

Once they arrived they were directed towards a middle-age man who looked slightly agitated as he searched through the mess of papers on his desk.

They walked over and stood in front of the man expectantly, not wanting to interrupt him. He looked ever so slightly familiar, Hermione not quite being able to place him.

After what clearly felt like the longest ten seconds ever for Lucius, he abruptly cleared his throat, the man looking up from the papers sprawled in front of him and practically jumped backwards at seeing who stood in front of him.

“S-sorry.” The man stuttered, clearly somewhat terrified by Lucius. “Th-this is my first day on the job, j-just transferred departments, names Arneth Walton.”

“Don’t worry.” Hermione said gently before Lucius could interrupt with what would no doubt be a snide remark about efficiency or why he could see why his old department had let him go.

“No no, I should be more organised.” He said, levitating all of the papers into a relatively neat pile. “How can I help you?”

Hermione took a deep breath and started to explain, leaving out any details about the future that she probably shouldn’t be sharing.

“And so, I was wondering if it would be possible for me to use one of the timeturners? Which, in my time, I will very literally return immediately, it won’t even leave the vault.” Hermione pleaded, Lucius rolling his eyes at her side at her complete lack of tactic.

The man seemed flustered, his eyes darting between Hermione and her best attempt at puppy dog eyes and Lucius who wore a scowl that looked as though it could scare away dementors.

“Um, well, I really shouldn’t…” He stalled. “Could I take a look at the broken one please?”

Hermione readily handed the pieces to him, Lucius on the other hand started tapping his foot impatiently, clearly used to getting his way in a far timelier fashion than this.

The Man inspected the timeturner, looking at each piece individually. “Strange…” He said, seeming a bit more relaxed with something other than Lucius to focus on. “Looks like this one didn’t have the correct protective spells put on it, I really hope that had nothing to do with my future self…but it does look like it can be fixed, although it will take some time.”

He placed the broken timeturner gently on the desk and pulled out a large folder from under it, flipping through the pages until he found the correct date.

“Right, I think in these exceptional circumstances I can grant you usage of one without an appointment but I must make a report of it for the records, name please.”

“Oh thank Merlin.” Hermione said with a sigh of relief. “And it’s Hermione Granger.”

“Alright, perfect.” He thanked her, making an entry on the page. “I’ll just go ahead and start unlocking the vault, it seems to take forever...just follow when you’ve said your goodbyes, I’m assuming you know the way.”

As the man starting walking away from them at a surprisingly quick pace, Hermione slowly turned to Lucius not sure what to say, awkwardly fiddling with a loose strand of her hair.

“Oh yes.” She suddenly remembered, reaching up and untying Lucius’ green ribbon from her hair, the wild curls falling into a mess down her back. “Here’s your ribbon back, thank you so much for lending it to me.”

Lucius reached out and closed her palm, wrapping his hands softly around her own. “I’d like for you to keep it, to remember me.”

Hermione’s heart fluttered in her chest, the warmth of Lucius hand against her own and the look in his grey eyes making her feel so happy yet inexplicably hurt at the same time.

She couldn’t help but break into a sad smile.

“Thank you Lucius, this means a lot to me.”

That was when she had an idea, reaching into her bag and pulling out the black ribbon she had bought earlier. Fortunately, she had bought a little more than she needed so neatly cut the ribbon in half with her wand.

“Here.” She said, offering one of the halves to Lucius. “For you to remember me.”

Lucius gently took the ribbon from her, the brush of his skin against her own sending shivers through her, and tied his hair back with it, looking content as he did, the smallest and most beautiful smile in the corner of his lips.

Suddenly a thought hit Hermione that made her chest tight and her breath catch.

The ribbon Lucius in her own time had lost, the one Hermione thought meant something to him, the one she was determined to get back to him, was the one she had given him herself in this time. All those years and he still had it, he had always remembered her, and for some reason it made her want to cry.

“Are you okay Hermione?” Lucius asked, lightly cupping her face in his hands.

She nodded weakly and thoroughly unconvincingly.

“Miss Granger!” Came a call from down the corridor. ‘I’m ready when you are!”

“Oh…I suppose I shoul-“

Hermione was cut off when Lucius lips were suddenly softly against her own, her arms wrapping themselves around him and pulling him close seemingly of their own accord.

A few seconds passed and he slowly pulled back. “Sorry.” He apologised. “I shouldn’t have done that, it was very rude of me and I-“

It was Hermione who was doing the cutting off this time, kissing him back as he had kissed her.

“It’s okay Lucius.” She smiled, pulling him tightly into a hug. “This way I’ll never forget you.”

“Nor I you.”

They held each other for only a few seconds but to Hermione it felt like hours, yet still not long enough.

“You should go now.” He said softly, his hands slipping from her body and returning to his sides.

“I know...”

Hermione felt strangely lost and sad. This was the last time she would see this version of Lucius, but she’d get the chance to see him again in her own time so soon, Lucius would probably forget her face before he saw her again. She shouldn’t feel sorry for a man she knew would do so much wrong in his life but she couldn’t help it, the man in front of her now was not the monster she knew.

“Goodbye Lucius.” She said, managing to put on a brave smile. “I hope everything works out for you and Narcissa, and thank you for all your help, it was a real pleasure to meet you.”

“Thank you, for showing me what it might have been like were I to have a choice, I doubt I would have ever stopped wondering had you not.”

A choice. That almost pushed Hermione over the edge. Of all the people who had little choice in their life Lucius was high on the list. Once you said yes to Voldemort all your choices were taken away, you said yes or you would die saying no.

“Goodbye Hermione, I hope I shall see you again one day.”

All Hermione could do was smile, sure she would start to cry were she to try to speak.

It took a lot of strength to turn away from him and walk down that corridor. She couldn’t look back, sure it would break her heart just a little bit if she did.

As she walked towards the vault, back to her own time, a new determination set in, a curiosity she couldn’t quell.

When she got there the man handed her a timeturner numbered 72, strangely enough the year they were in, Hermione unsure if it was a coincidence or not.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” He said as he made his way towards the door.

“Thank you for this.” Said Hermione, managing to push a smile through her sombre mood.

“You’re welcome.” He said as he closed the door. “I suppose I’ll see you in 30 years or so!”

Hermione had one thing on her mind and she was determined to get there as fast as she could.

She quickly flicked through the pages of the date book to find the time she was looking for, tearing several as she did.

She spun the rings of the timeturner as fast as she dared, hoping she’d end up around the time of day she was aiming for.

The world started to swirl and distort around her and in a blink she was back in, hopefully, her own time. It was hard to tell since the room looked exactly the same.

Hermione knocked on the door three times and waited what felt like forever when in reality less than a minute had passed. The door creaked open and there stood the old man who had let her in and that’s when it struck her, she had recognised the man in the past because it had been a younger Arneth, feeling so foolish to have not worked it out sooner.  In her defence, he had not aged particularly well, but had seemed to have retained his swift walking pace after all this time. It made her feel a little bad for thinking he had only been congenial with her before because of who she was, it must have been because he had been expecting her for quite some time.

“Ah, back at last are you.” Greeted Arneth with an amused smile, not talking to Hermione but the timeturner. “I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time.”

“Sorry.” Apologised Hermione sincerely. “I hope you didn’t get in any trouble for letting me take it?”

“No I didn’t, Lucius Malfoy took care of that for me, believe it or not.”

Previously Hermione probably wouldn’t have, but now she didn’t question it.

“Sorry to be rude but I’ve got somewhere I really need to be.” She said looking at her watch. Three o’clock, just what she’d been hoping for. With any luck he would still be in his office.

“No problem Miss Granger.” He said taking the timeturner carefully from her with a knowing smile. “Off you go.”

Hermione hurried off down the corridor with determination in each stride, calling back “Thank you Arneth!” as she went.

“Good Luck!” He called back, perhaps having a hunch about where she was off to in such a hurry.

Hermione’s legs seemed to have overridden her mind as she marched through the Ministry, finally coming to a sharp halt right outside the office of none other than Lucius Malfoy, her breaths rapid and face surely red.

She knocked brusquely on the door, opening it as soon as she heard the slightly irritable ‘enter’ called from inside.

Hermione walked in, closing the door behind her, her heart racing in her chest.

Lucius looked surprised to see her as he lifted his eyes from the neatly organised parchment on his desk, a small familiar smile appearing in the corner of his lips.

“What’s so amusing?” Hermione asked, seeing the ever so slightly smug look on his face.

“Nothing at all I assure you.” He drawled as he stood from his desk. Lucius had looked beautiful as his 18-year-old self, Hermione had thought it the best she’d ever seen him, but something had changed. Now she looked at him and could not imagine a more perfect man. The pain, the regret, the horrors he had seen were all etched into his being and seeing him as he was now having met his younger self made her physically hurt. All of her hatred for him seemed to have dissipated, an undeniable want left it its place.

“I was just intrigued by your current outfit.” He explained as he walked slowly towards her. “I don’t recall you wearing it when we encountered each other earlier.”

“My outfit? Wha-” She stopped abruptly when she realised what she was wearing. The Ravenclaw uniform, she had completely forgotten to change out of it. “Yes, well, never mind what I’m wearing. I came here to return something to you.”

Lucius raised a finely sculpted eyebrow in curiosity. “Oh you have, have you? Now isn’t this interesting.”

Hermione wasn’t sure what game Lucius was playing here but part of her couldn’t help but wonder, hope even, that he knew where she’d just come from.

“Yes.” She said, trying to sound confident.

Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out the remaining half of the black ribbon and held it out to him. “You lost it earlier.”

The smug expression fell from Lucius’ face as he reached out and took the ribbon, the brush of his skin against her own sending shivers through her just as it had less than an hour ago for her, yet so long ago for him.

“The other half…” He whispered, not seeming to realise he was speaking aloud, running the soft ribbon through his fingers.

“And I believe this is yours too…” She said, tentatively holding out the other ribbon. This one was a dark green and had some letters embroidered at either end in silver thread, an ‘L’ at one, an ‘M’ at the other.

His eyes widened, a look on his face Hermione had never seen on anyone before, he looked devastated yet overjoyed at the same time, and he slowly closed the gap between them.

Lucius reached out and closed her palm, wrapping his hands softly around her own. “I’d like for you to keep it.” He said barely audibly as he looked up into her eyes.  

“To remember me.”

Hermione could have nodded weakly and left, tears no doubt ready to fall at any moment, but something pushed her to stay.

Lucius had the chance to choose now, he was free, and though it was very unlikely that he would choose her after all that the two of them had been through, she couldn’t help but try.

She leant up slowly, placing a soft kiss on his parted lips without a second thought. It was brief and gentle but there were so many words behind it that she hoped he would understand.

Lucius stood stunned in disbelief, Hermione able to feel the rapid beating of his heart against her own chest.

“I’ve waited so long to see you again.” He breathed. “This you. The one who met the man I’d left behind, the part of myself that had all but faded away.”

“I’m here now.” She smiled, revelling in the strong grip she could now feel around her waist. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

“We’ve got all the time in the world.”