the_debt_of_time

"That is... I mean to say.. ." It did make sense. Remus had brought up the night
of Sirius's escape and how Harry was able to summon his Patronus under the knowledge
that it had already happened. Full circle. But that was not the only reason she needed to go
home. "Sir, I don't belong here."
"Unfortunate as that may be, I regret to inform you, Miss Granger, that I know of
no way to send you home." His words caused her heart to sink. No. If Albus Dumbledore
couldn't help her, who possibly could? "And even if I were available to do so, I would
hesitate to take action. You say you've studied time travel in depth? Have you by any chance
read about Eloise Mintumble?"
Hermione had read about the famous time-travelling witch. Eloise had been an
Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries, researching in what Hermione now knew to
be the Time Room. During her experiments, she had sent herself back in time five centuries
and upon her miraculous return—which was still a mystery to the Wizarding world as
Time-Turners were only known to go backward, not forward—she aged the five centuries
she had travelled through and died.
Her eyes widened. "Oh my God. You're saying that if you were to send me back to
my own time, I would instantly age thirty years?"
"That is a very large possibility."
She thought about it for a long moment. Would it be worth the risk? Would she
even survive it? Did that matter? Her being there and speaking to Dumbledore alone could
cause a rip in time and change everything. The Butterfly Effect. She had fought so hard
and sacrificed so much over the last year in order to help win the war. What if she did
something here and now that ruined it all? No. She had been willing to sacrifice her life for
the cause four months ago in battle; this was no different.
"I don't care. I'd rather forfeit my life than to risk ruining the future by any actions
I take."
Dumbledore smiled at her words as if taking a survey of her character. "Thinking
back to Eloise Mintumble," he said, ultimately ignoring her decision, "I assume you read
what happened as a result of her time alterations?"
"Her meddling with the past is the reason the Ministry of Magic enacted so many
laws regarding time travel. She single-handedly erased over twenty-five people from