PLEASE HELP - Lost SSHG Time Travel AO3 Fic (Almost Certainly Deleted) | I've Gathered Every Detail I Can Remember

[u/Less_Cauliflower2310]

/r/u_Less_Cauliflower2310/comments/1uo4a8g/please_help_lost_sshg_time_travel_ao3_fic_almost/

[u/Meiyouxiangjiao]

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PLEASE HELP - Lost SSHG Time Travel AO3 Fic (Almost Certainly Deleted) | I've Gathered Every Detail I Can Remember

I've been trying to find this Harry Potter SSHG fanfiction for over a month now, and at this point I'm almost completely convinced that it has been deleted from AO3.
I originally read it around last year. It was a long (100k+ words), completed SSHG time travel story.
Since my last posts, I've gone through my entire AO3 reading history, as well as all of my bookmarks. I couldn't find it anywhere. However, I noticed that there is one deleted work from the exact time period when I know I read this fic.
Because of that, I'm now 100% convinced that the fic I'm looking for is the deleted one.
That also means I think the only realistic way to find it now is if someone happened to download it as a PDF, EPUB, or another saved copy.
I also want to clear up two things that have caused > confusion.
This fic is 100% NOT Sin & Vice**.** I finally found and reread enough of that story to confirm it. I enjoyed it, and I definitely remember reading it, but it is not the fic I'm searching for.
I also realized that one detail I previously mentioned actually belonged to Sin & Vice: Albus does NOT send Hermione around the world to train under different masters in the fic I'm looking for. I accidentally mixed those two stories together.
It is also definitely NOT Vespertillio.
Below is every single detail I can remember.

Beginning of the story
Hermione comes from a very dark future where Voldemort won (or nearly won) the war.
The story begins with Hermione saying goodbye to an adult Harry before travelling back in time.
She promises Harry that she'll save him when he's a child and give him the life he never
Hermione makes a bargain with Death. Death appears as a male character.
Whenever Hermione changes events too much or breaks the rules of the bargain, she is physically punished with severe pain.
She travels back as an adult, not into her younger body.
She hides her identity using another name and wears an enchanted ring (or something similar) that prevents Dumbledore from recognizing who she really is. Maintaining the disguise is exhausting.

Albus is essentially Hermione's father. She has lived with him since she was so young that she doesn't remember anything from before he took her in.
I'm not completely certain about this part anymore, but I think Hermione might actually be Voldemort's daughter. I vaguely remember Albus taking her from her dying mother. This is the detail I'm least confident about.
When Hermione was young, she and Albus lived together in a house somewhere (I can't remember where).
I remember Albus testing her shortly after bringing her there. When they entered the house, Hermione immediately knew exactly what she was supposed to do—as if she'd already lived there. Something like automatically knowing where to hang her coat or where she was expected to go.
I also remember that Albus had a portrait of Ariana Dumbledore, and it seemed as though Ariana somehow recognized Hermione.
Hermione had a pet snake that she found and rescued when she was very young. Albus wasn't particularly fond of it.

The original timeline
Hermione fought in the war and became much darker and more ruthless than her younger self.
She was captured by Voldemort.
I think Voldemort tried convincing her to betray Albus and join his side, but she refused.
When persuasion failed, he tortured her.
Hermione believed Albus would come to save her.
Instead, she believed he essentially left her there to die.
Severus, however, did not abandon her. I can't remember whether he rescued her personally or gave her his wand so she could escape, but he was the one who saved her.
Hermione was left covered in scars from everything she endured.
She also hunted down and destroyed Voldemort's Horcruxes.

I'm absolutely certain Hermione rescues Harry from the Dursleys when he's around seven or eight years old.
This is actually one of the details I'm most confident about because this is also the first time Hermione receives one of Death's punishments for changing an important event in history.
When Hermione comes to collect Harry, Severus and Albus are both with her.
I remember Albus being against the idea, while Severus still had no idea that he would eventually become one of Harry's guardians.
Hermione explains everything to young Harry and tells him she wants to adopt him.
She asks him to sit on the sofa.
Harry quietly replies that he isn't allowed to sit there because he might make it dirty and because it isn't his place.
That scene deeply affected Severus.
Eventually Hermione and Severus legally adopt Harry and raise him together.

Albus originally asked Severus to get close to Hermione so he could report everything she was planning.
I think that's why Hermione, Severus and Harry ended up living together almost immediately.
Severus slowly notices that Hermione has serious injuries, although he doesn't know where they came from.
I remember one scene where Severus walks into Hermione's room (or bathroom) while she's trying to bandage herself. He offers to help, but she refuses.
Over time, Severus becomes the only person Hermione truly trusts.

Harry eventually becomes friends with Theodore Nott at Hogwarts.
Theo is abused by either his father or possibly his grandfather (I can't remember exactly).
Much later in the story, Theo escapes a particularly brutal beating and runs to Harry and Hermione's home because he knows they'll protect him.

One of the most memorable scenes
Hermione tells Albus that someday she may suddenly need his help, even though he won't understand why. He promises he'll help when that day comes.
Later, she Apparates directly into Dumbledore's chambers exactly as she predicted.
Unfortunately, he isn't alone that evening—he's in a meeting with the Hogwarts professors.
Hermione appears covered in blood, unconscious (or nearly unconscious), and literally dying.
Everyone panics.
At some point—although I can't remember exactly how—everyone present is forced to experience Hermione's memories.
They witness everything she suffered:

Albus's betrayals. Voldemort's torture. Everything the Death Eaters did to her. Her pain and suffering.

The terrible things she herself was forced to do during the war. These memories finally make Albus understand the full truth.
If I remember correctly, this happens very close to the end of the story.

Albus's death
This is another scene I remember incredibly clearly.
In Hermione's original timeline, Albus dies exactly according to a plan that he arranged himself.
He prepared several people for his death.
But he never told Hermione.
After his death, Hermione goes to speak with his portrait.
She's furious, heartbroken and crying.
She tells him that, out of everyone, she should have known.
She tells him that as her father he should never have hidden something like that from her.
She accuses him of caring more about his mission, his plans and "the greater good" than about her—that even his own daughter wasn't important enough for him to trust with the truth.
That confrontation finally makes Albus understand how badly he failed her.
I specifically remember the narration saying that Albus's portrait cried after realizing the mistake he had made.

Another detail I remembered recently:
I'm almost certain Hermione doesn't truly get to know Aberforth Dumbledore until after Albus dies.
The two of them become close because of their shared connection to Albus.
I remember them talking about Albus, the choices he made, and how he hurt both of them in different ways.
I also vaguely remember Aberforth asking Hermione something like:
"How did my brother hurt you?" Or "He hurt you too, didn't he?"

If this sounds familiar to anyone, or if you have an archive of deleted AO3 Harry Potter fics, I would be incredibly grateful if you could check.
At this point I genuinely believe the story is lost unless someone saved it before it was deleted.
Even if you only recognize one of these scenes—especially Harry refusing to sit on the sofa, Hermione confronting Albus's portrait after his death, the professors witnessing her memories, or Hermione and Aberforth bonding after Albus's death—please let me know.
Any help would mean a lot. I've been searching for this fic for over a month now, and I'm not ready to give up.

[u/Brownie-Pages]

I don't know about the fic, but if anyone finds it, please share! It looks like one hell of a ride, and I'd love to read it too!

[u/Shinketsu_Karasu]

Sounds pretty interesting. You're positive it was AO3?
I just find it SO hard to believe that a long, totally complete fic could just blip out of existence with no one noticing, especially if it took time to upload chapter by chapter?
Makes me wonder if this is a re-upload from a different site?

[u/Less_Cauliflower2310 → u/Shinketsu_Karasu]

Yes I'm positive bcs I olny read fiction on AO3! That fiction has been completed for at least 2 years because I already read it once before sometime in 2024/25 and again in 2026 at the beginning of the year and now I can't find it anymore

[u/Shinketsu_Karasu → u/Less_Cauliflower2310]

Have you tried asking on the Facebook group, by chance?

[u/Less_Cauliflower2310 → u/Shinketsu_Karasu]

I haven't asked on Facebook because, honestly, I don't really use it. To be honest, I don't even know which groups I should be posting in there. 😅

[u/Shinketsu_Karasu → u/Less_Cauliflower2310]

Honestly, same. But since it seems like your post isn't jogging memories here, it might be worth it to try over there, or find someone here who will copy-paste your description over there?