When Narcissa woke she stretched out instinctively to pull her lover closer to her. As she did so however she found that the bed next to her was cold and empty. The smile slid from her face and she opened her eyes to find Hermione gazing out of the frosted window, utterly lost in thought. She rose and walked silently over to her, wrapping her arms around her waist. She kissed the nape of her neck, then her shoulder, her collarbone, and finally rested her chin on her shoulder.

"I'd ask you what you are thinking about," she murmured, "but I doubt you would tell me." Hermione turned around and looked sadly into the young witches startling blue eyes. She kissed her softly, carefully, as though not to break her, and when she pulled back Narcissa was frowning at her, a mixture of confusion and concern mapped out across her face.

"Not that I am complaining," she said quietly, "but what was that for?"

"I need you to promise me something," Hermione said.

"Hermione what is it?" Narcissa asked, the frown creasing her forehead deepening.

"I need you to promise me that you'll listen. That you'll listen to everything I have to say before forming a judgement. Before you react, you must listen to the whole story." Narcissa frowned up at her and sighed.

"You're being incredibly cryptic," she said.

"Just promise me," Hermione pleaded.

"I promise," she said. "Now tell me what it is that has been eating away at you."

"Not here," Hermione said. "I don't want to risk being overheard. We'll go for a walk."

They dressed in silence and then walked through the bustling castle towards the grounds. They walked through the snow in silence, the only sound that of their crunching footprints, which seemed unusually loud as it attempted to fill the quiet void between them. When they reached the Hogwarts Bridge they stopped. Hermione looked out over the side of the bridge up at the castle in the distance. She had never appreciated just how lonely it looked, sat upon it's hill by itself, not another building for miles and miles. In that moment it looked as lonely as she felt.

"I need to tell you something," she said, unable to turn and look at her lover, "and it is going to shock you." Narcissa frowned once more.

"I'm listening."

"Just remember what you promised," Hermione said, forcing herself to turn and look at her.

"Of course," she said. Hermione took a deep, shaky breath, and looked into her lover's curious eyes.

"I'm not who I said I am."

"What do you mean?" Narcissa asked impatiently.

" I mean," she said, "that everything you think you know about me, is wrong." Narcissa looked at her and folded her arms across her chest, the little frown creasing her forehead deepening. "I am a muggle born," she continued. "I was born, to two muggle parents, on the 19th September, 1979."

"What do you mean, 1979?" Narcissa demanded. "That's not for another six years." Hermione sighed and pulled out the Time Turner that she kept hidden under her blouse.

"This is a Time Turner," she explained, "I came back from the year 1997 to try and gain an advantage for the resistance in a war that has hardly yet started, but that has already taken so many lives I have lost count." Narcissa's eyes were wide with shock; her hand flew to her mouth obscuring a little gasp.

"Stop," she said. "Just stop talking I can't listen to this." Her mind was reeling, racing around in circles so fast she couldn't think. Her heart was beating hard and fast in her throat, making her feel sick. This was all too much. This wasn't possible.

"Narcissa please," Hermione begged. "You made me a promise."

"Then you had better explain," the young blonde snapped shakily. "Everything."

"I'm so sorry Cissy," Hermione said "I wanted to tell you everything but..."

"Then tell me now!" Narcissa demanded. Hermione took a deep breath, and tried her hardest to explain.

"In the future there will be a war. Two wars in fact. A dark wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort" Narcissa's eyes widened in shock upon recognition of the name that she had so often heard tumble excitedly from her sisters lips, "and he will wage a war, first on the muggle-borns, people like me, and then on all those he considers "blood traitors". And he will win. People will die. People you love. I have seen it happen. Your family, your child, will all be in continuous danger." She gave another, great heavy sigh, as though simply recounting all that had happened in the past two years exhausted her. "I honestly don't know how many of my friends I have seen die. This war, is the reason I wake up screaming every night. I was sent back, to try and turn some of the people we thought could help convert some of his key supporters. And I was told you were the key."

"Me?" Narcissa croaked, her voice shaking; tears stung behind her eyes.

"I was told that if I could get close to you, I may be able to turn other important people close to Him."

"So everything you told me, was a lie?" she asked, desperately trying to hold back the tears that were itching to run down her face and disgrace her even further. "Every time you kissed me, every time you told me you loved me, it was all a lie?"

"No!" Hermione reached out to take her hand in her own but Narcissa flinched backwards. "Narcissa I fell in love with you," she said. "At first, I was just talking to you because it was what I was told to do. But then..."

"Oh spare me the clichés!" Narcissa spat, a look of disgust and betrayal spread across her face. "I can't believe I was such a fool!" she muttered almost to her self. " I suppose you are going to tell me that you are a Gryffindor as well?" Hermione looked at her, she didn't even need to answer the question. Narcissa let out a harsh bark of laughter.

"Merlin's beard!" she exclaimed. "And to think, I gave it all to a piece of mudblood scum like you." And with that last, scalding remark, she fled back in the direction of the castle. Hermione felt her heart crumble. She let her self slide to the floor as tears flooded her eyes. She had lost everything now. She'd lost her best friends, she'd lost any hope of winning the war, but worst of all, she'd lost her lover. And that was more that she could cope with.