Chapter 1

This is a bloody marvelous way of spending my summer, thought Hermoine, allowing herself the use of the vulgarity in her mental conversation with herself. As fate would have it, it was her eighteenth birthday, but instead of celebrating it with her family, her friends, and her Housemates, she was spending it trekking through a remote valley on the Swiss/German border. Somewhere in this valley was a cave, hidden much like the platform for the train to Hogwart's, that led to the dwelling of Kronos.

Of course, Hermoine knew all about Kronos. Kronos wasn't so much a giant as an office. No one was sure what exactly the criteria was to hold the office of Kronos, or how each Kronos picked his successor. But it was certain that Kronos was important, regulating the flow of time, making sure that time spells weren't overly used, and untying any knots that any time spells put into the time stream.

Dumbledore made it quite clear that a number of mythical creatures who had been persecuted by the present order, such as giants, must be sought out, if at least to find out what side of the upcoming battle they were on. Kronos and the Ministries of Magic (regardless of their nationality) had always had an uneasy relationship. Kronos would have preferred no one messed with time, period, as it made his job harder. The ministries saw the necessity of Kronos's office, but often disagreed with the aggressiveness that Kronos often pursued his job with.

Hermoine reflected on this as she paused at a likely looking rock. Pushing against it, she just found solid rock.

Whatever Kronos's relationship with wizards was in the past, it was Hermoine's job to insure that he at least remained neutral in the upcoming battle. Dumbledore had selected her because she had a certain affinity with time magic, having used a time charm for a year at Hogwart's. And, of course, because Hermoine knew what little there was about Kronos.

Dumbledore warned her that the window of opportunity to find the current Kronos was very small. The signs indicated that Kronos would be inaccessible very soon. It could be for a blink of an eye, a day, or a decade. No one could be really sure. All that Hermoine knew was it was important to find out which side, if any, Kronos might be fighting on in the upcoming battle.

Hermoine looked around the valley in despair. She hadn't found any sign of this hidden portal to the realm of Kronos. Hermoine more collapsed than sat on the ground, leaning her back against a tree.

And promptly disappeared from view.

Kronos didn't look like a normal giant. For one thing, his features would have looked human, if they hadn't been set on a twenty-two meter tall frame. He was actually quite handsome, with dark, unkempt hair, blue eyes and lightly tanned skin. The taking of his office from his previous successor on the current Kronos's eighteenth birthday, just one year ago, had actually made the current Kronos even better looking. Of course, Kronos hadn't been his overwhelming height before he had taken the office. It was just one of the side-effects of being Kronos

Kronos was roaming the perimeter of his realm, preparing it to be sealed from the outside world. The time stream had to be adjusted, mainly because of spells coming from the Hogwart's school. He had heard good things from his successor about the current head of the school, Dumbledore, but just the same it wouldn't hurt to have a talk with him and assert the authority of his office.

Kronos was about to head back to his castle when a tiny slip of a girl, looking for all the world like she would fit in the palm of his hand, suddenly appeared at his feet. The two looked at each other, equally startled. Kronos knelt down, a scowl on his face, which cause the girl (Hermoine, if you haven't figured it out by now) to scoot away frantically.

"What are you doing here? Never mind, you have to leave now before..."

Suddenly, the sky darkened to a deep purple, before returning to its normal blue.

Sighing, Kronos looked down at Hermoine. "Well, whoever you are, you're trapped now. The time stream has sealed us in."

Hermoine was somewhat ... bemused would be too mild a word. She had been wandering around in an Alpine valley, seeking the entrance to the realm of Kronos, and had finally found it. It would seem that she had found Kronos as well, and he was less than pleased to see her.

Trying to act as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, Hermoine stood up and brushed off the sweater and trousers she had been hiking in. "Yes, well, I suppose that cannot be helped. You are Kronos, then? Allow me to introduce myself. Hermoine Granger, of the Order of the Phoenix. I must say, you aren't at all what I was expecting."

It was Kronos's turn to be nonplussed. This diminutive human female was not at all what he would expect, though he really wasn't sure exactly what he would expect, since he never expected to receive visitors, except for...

"You're a witch, then?"

Hermoine nodded. "I was sent here by Dumbledore--"

"Dumbledore! My predecessor spoke of that name. He was very impressed by him."

"You're new at your job, then?"

Kronos grimaced. Somehow, this tiny female, who could have fit in the palm of his hand, was taking command of the conversation.

"Listen, would you mind if we take this conversation back to my castle? There are some things I need to monitor, now that the time stream has sealed us in. And I assume that there were some things that you needed to ask me, or at least tell me."

Hermoine was sure that she knew how Alice had felt when Alice had stepped through the looking glass. She was having a casual, civil conversation with a handsome giant who, if not the master of time, was certainly integral in its maintenance.

"That would be very welcome. I assume that's your castle in the distance?"

Kronos nodded. He looked at his home, then down at Hermoine. "Not to be forward, but it might be faster if I were to ... um, carry you."

Hermoine hesitated. She had been picked up by a giant before, specifically Hagris's half-brother. But that had been around the waist. And Hermoine hadn't found that giant as attractive as the significantly larger one before her.

"I suppose that would be the most efficient way."

As Kronos knelt and placed his hand palm up on the ground, he asked, "So what about me didn't meet your expectations?"

I wasn't expecting anybody so handsome, Hermoine thought to herself as she climbed into Kronos's palm. Instead, she answered, "Well, you are substantially taller than the giants I've encountered or ready about."

Kronos chuckled as he gently lifted Hermoine upward. "Part of that is part of being Kronos. But my tribe as always been larger than the average giant ... often by a full meter. Clan legend says that we're descended from the Titans of Greek mythology, but I've never really researched it. And you might have noticed that, in speech and visage, we resemble humans more than our fellow giants."

Yes, I definitely noticed, Hermoine thought to herself. But instead of dwelling on that, she looked about the scenery from her new height. Kronos was trying to be cautious in carrying her, but she still felt herself swaying, as if she was riding on a small boat.

Good thing I don't get motion sickness Hermoine thought to herself, as Kronos's castle quickly loomed larger.

In many ways, Kronos's castle was much like Hogwarts. There were various portraits of past Kronos's, though none of them seem animated. There was the obligatory suit of armor standing guard at the entrance, which seemed to be a mix of Medieval and Roman. There were tapestries, clocks, lamps and whatnots. And then there was the laboratory, which Kronos carefully carried Hermoine into.

Kronos carefully set Hermoine down on an empty table as he moved to the oddest looking apparatus Hermoine had ever seen. There were tubes and liquids and beakers and valves and what Hermoine would swear was a bottled thunderstorm. Kronos moved from one station to another, observing, tapping, adjusting and, in one case, flipping what looked like an hourglass full of purple smoke upside down. Kronos studied the whole situation for about ten minutes, then returned to Hermoine.

"That should suffice for the next two days, at any rate. Shall we retire to my study to continue our conversation?" Kronos put his hand down for Hermoine to climb into.

This is actually not a bad way to travel around, Hermoine though to herself. I could get used to this.

Kronos was thinking the same thing. It was actually rather pleasant to have this tiny witch in his hand. And she was definitely easy on the eyes, he reflected as they entered his study.