~Harry Potter~

Middlechild's not-bad-at-all fanfic

~written when middlechild was all of 13~

“What we need,” said Dumbledore slowly, and his eyes flickering to Hermione, “is more time.”

“But--” Hermione began.  And then her eyes grew wide. “OH!”

“Now pay attention,” Dumbledore began, “You might just be able to save more than one life tonight.  But above all remember: you must not be seen.  Miss Granger you know what is at stake if you are put into the past and are glimpsed.”

Harry didn’t have a clue what was going on.  Dumbledore had reached the door and was now turning back to them.

“I am going to lock you in. It’s five minutes until midnight, so I believe three turns shall do it, Miss Granger.  Good luck.”  The door shut behind him.

“Hermione what the hufflepuff is he on about?”  Harry looked bewildered.

But Hermione was fumbling with something under her robes, in her shirt.  Harry wasn’t sure he should have been witnessing whatever she was doing, but then she pulled out a long gold chain with a small hour glass on it that had been hanging around her neck.

“Harry come over here, quickly!” she said without the slightest quiver in her voice.  She threw the chain around Harry’s neck so now it was around both of them.  She tried to grasp the hourglass but she kept dropping it because of the broken wrist she had acquired from the Womping Willow that night, and then her wand fell out of robes.  “Bloody ‘ell!” this had to be the first time Harry had ever heard her say that. “Harry quick,” she said handing the tiny hourglass to him, “turn this over three times for me while I try to get my wand!”

She bent over and Harry looked at the trinket.  Just turn it over three times now.  He took it and flipped the hourglass over clockwise three times.  And then in a rush of colors and shapes, and lots of wind, the dark hospital wing seemed to disappear around them, as if it were wet paint dripping down a three dimensional canvas.  As soon as it started, it was over, and they looked at their surroundings.  They were in the hospital wing still, but it was daylight, and Harry didn’t exactly know how, but it did look different.

“Oh, no!  This is not right!”  Hermione looked terribly scared.  And that made Harry terribly scared.  “How can it be daylight?  The time turner was supposed to take us back three hours, the sun was setting then, but it looks like the middle of the day!”  She looked around and glimpsed the clock.  “Harry!  The clock says it’s five minutes until noon.  I only told you to turn it three times!  What did you do?” Her scared look now turning to frustration.

“I did only turn it three times Hermione, I swear!  I just took it from you, turned it clockwise three times and--”

“WHAT?!”  Hermione shrieked--she looked like she had just been told she’d eaten baked house elf without prior knowledge.  “You turned it clockwise?!  Oh no...Harry I am so stupid, it’s my fault for not telling you!  Professor McGonagall told me that I must always turn the Time-Turner only counter clockwise!”

Harry thought about this for a second.  “So...what happens since it was turned clockwise?  I mean it can’t be that bad...we’re still here.”

“Well, I’m not exactly sure what has happened.  But I am guessing,” she glanced around, and grabbed Harry’s arm, dragging him out of the center of the room to a corner, “that if turning it the opposite way takes us to the past...this took us to the future.”  Hermione had a very serious look on her face now.

“But...” Harry looked at the calendar on the wall.  It said December 21.  “A-ha...look Hermione,” he pointed to the calendar, ”that calendar says December 21...it was April 23rd when we left, It just took us back a little further than we wanted.”

Hermione went over to have a closer look at the calendar.  She flipped up the page to see if there was anymore information about the day.  “Well, you’re right it is December 21th...1996!  Harry it was 1994!”  Hermione said in one breath, looking astounded.

Harry stared at the calendar with his mouth open in astonishment.  He didn’t know whether he was scared, or extremely excited.  If it really was almost three years in the future, he wanted to know what was it was like.  But then a cold chill rushed over him...what if something bad has happened?  I might not want to know about it.  His fear died down a little though-- but then again, maybe if he knew about something it could be stopped...

“We’ve got to find Dumbledore and figure this out.”  Harry said.

“I agree...but how will we get there without being seen? It’s the middle of the day.  And we can’t risk just staying here, if a patient or Madam Pomfrey come in.”  Hermione said glancing the doors nervously.  She was quiet for a moment.  “I forgot to pick up the invisibility cloak before we left.”

Harry could not be angry with Hermione, he had screwed up worse with the time turner.  He remained calm.  “It’s alright, we just have to figure out how to get up to the tower and into my dormitory without being seen.  Dumbledore’s office is on the other side of the castle, it will be easier just to get the cloak as the tower isn’t very far.  This is going to be tricky.”

“You’re right.”  Hermione looked very white in the face.  “How can we get around without being seen?  This is impossible!”

Harry reached in his pocket to pull out his hat.  “Here er--you put this on, put all your hair up into it, that should make you less recognizable.”  He then took off his glasses and handed them to her.  “Wear these too.”

Hermione put her hair up inside the tall wizard hat and put Harry’s glasses on.  “Harry your vision is horrible if you have to see through these things.”  Hermione looked up at him.  Her disguise was good enough if anyone saw her they wouldn’t think anything of it.  “What about you Harry?”

Harry looked around the hospital wing for something.  He pulled a white sheet off one of the beds, twisted it up, and put it around his head like a turban.  Then he grabbed a container of Guacamole Boil Buster that was just laying out nearby, and smeared a glob of the green contents all over his face.  “Yeah?”  Harry knew he must look ridiculous.

 “You look like Hagrid’s pea soup.”  Hermione laughed.  “But, good enough.  Let’s be quick.”

They walked out the doors, checking no one was around, then scampered to the statue a few feet away of the one-eyed witched.  Though they were disguised, they still tried to hide behind every statue along the corridor, just to be sure.  They had almost gotten to the tower now, they just had to pass by the great hall.  This wouldn’t be so easy though, they soon discovered.

“Crikey Harry--it’s lunch time!”  Hermione said peeking out from behind the bronze eagle hiding them across the hallway from the doors, to see all the students making their way through the doors.  Harry had started edging toward the hall.  “Harry!  What are you doing?!”

Harry couldn’t control himself.  He had to take a peek in the great hall, at all the students.  He quickly walked over to the doors, then disappeared inside.

Hermione was freaking out.  How could Harry just go in there?  “Aargh!”  Hermione groaned as she followed after Harry.  She looked in the doors to see him hiding behind a suit of armor in the corner.  She scampered over to him, carefully trying not to be noticed.  “Are you trying to get us seen?!”  she uttered through her teeth.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it, I had to see.”

“You couldn’t just see behind the eagle outside?!”  Harry was preoccupied gazing around the hall now, though.

They looked at the four tables laid out in the hall, the lunch plates appearing, and many students already seated all around.  They walked over toward the Gryffindor table and started to survey the students.

“Harry I don’t see us, or Ron, anyway.  Like I could see anything through these glasses.”

He turned towards her.  “Well, Hermione remember we’re in sixth year now, we’re going to look a lot different.  And fine give me them back for a moment.”

“I know that!” Hermione gave him an offended look, “I think I would be able to recognize myself all the same!”  she handed Harry his glasses.

Harry turned back to the table.  “Look at Neville!”  Neville Longbottom, who had always been sort of portly, the shortest boy in the dormitory was now walking into the hall.  He completely towered over everyone, and looked to be quite strong.  “Who would have thought?”  His astonishment changed into something more familiar as he saw Neville stumble a little bit, knocking over a first year.  Then it changed to something a little more unpleasant as he saw Neville walk over to Cho Chang and put his arm around her.  He turned his focus on Seamus Finnigan blowing up his goblet yet again, trying to forget it.  He didn’t even want to know.

“Well here’s something even stranger--look at Marcus Flint.  He got his teeth fixed...and he’s still here.  Wonder where Malfoy is?”  She had never asked this question before, doubted she ever would again.

Harry glanced over again at Neville and Cho, which besides making him jealous made him want to gag and bust out laughing considering the Neville he usually knew.  “Er Hermione, let’s go...”  He handed her his glasses again and she put them on her face.

“Yes I think that’s a splendid idea Harry!”  growled Hermione, who carefully started edging out from behind the suit.  Harry started to move too, but his foot hit the suit’s leg, and before they knew it, the whole thing including Harry came crashing down, with ear splitting metal clanging everywhere.  Harry slapped the floor, and his sheet-turban unraveled, and the green gook on his face was wiped all over the floor.  Students all over the hall were standing up, staring with bewilderment at a green faced Harry on the floor in a pile of armor and Hermione just standing there next to it.

“Er--”  Hermione froze for a moment, then scrambled down to Harry, took his robes and made sure they were over his head, then helped him up and started running to the doors, noticing everyone glaring at her.  “Sorry--nasty furnunculus curse and bubotuber pus on this one! coming through--hospital wing!”  Hermione bellowed in a voice quite unlike her own.  They ran until they were at a marble lion outside of the hall near the staircases.

Harry peeked out from his robes that were over his head.  He was incredibly red, even under the bits of green still smeared on his face.  He didn’t really know what to say, he was quite embarrassed, he had almost blown it for them.  He tried to smile at Hermione.

She looked furious, but that waned a little when she saw his embarrassment.  “Oh, come on Harry!  Let’s get the cloak.”  She couldn’t help smiling a little.  But they hadn’t gone one step when they heard chattering on the staircase, right above them.

“Yeah right, like Snape would say it was me!  Goyle you really are in need of those special classes he offered you, you duff.”

Harry and Hermione looked at each other.  There was only one person they knew who would, or rather could say that sentence. 

They looked up to see Draco Malfoy, with his same old minions, Crabbe and Goyle.  Besides a few inches, and a miniscule amount of bulk, Malfoy looked the same.  The same cold gray eyes, pointed nose, hair slicked back with so much product you could practically ice skate on it.  They were standing on the bottom few steps of the staircase that led up to Slytherin tower.

“Seriously, this will be so easy.  I wasn’t the only one there, I can say I was just passing by, and blame it on Weasley.  But leave that girlfriend of his who is always suction cupped to his face, quite annoyingly, out of it.”

Hermione made a small startled noise.  “He can’t be talking about Ron...” she whispered.  But Ron was the only male Weasley still at Hogwarts, Harry knew.

Malfoy’s eyes suddenly darted upward, sparkling.  He hopped up one step, and teetered on his left foot there.  “Too bad Potter wasn’t there.  You know they’re still keeping my father in Azkaban for maintenance questioning and as a “precaution of safety” because “You-Know-Who is dreadfully close to coming back to power.”?  Well I’m not afraid to say his name, it’s pathetic everyone else is.  It’s been a year and a half since that stupid git opened his mouth and named everyone he saw with Voldemort.  I can’t wait till he gets out...we’ll see how the famous twit deals with everyone who is out for his blood.”  He closed his eyes, sneering, like he was savoring the last piece of food he would ever eat.  Crabbe and Goyle snickered, after the moment that it always took them to process things.

Harry wanted to lunge at Malfoy.  But not to knock his teeth out, more so to understand.  What did I open my mouth about?  Why is Lucius Malfoy being held by the ministry?  People want me dead?  What is he talking about blaming Ron for?  And Ron has a girlfriend? Hermione was holding on to his arm, and started pulling him away from Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.

“Harry I know what you’re thinking, but we won’t find out what that was about until we do.  We cannot interfere, remember?  I will say though that he is still a slimy braggart and I hope he falls down those stairs.”  Harry grinned nervously.  They walked quickly in the opposite direction of Malfoy, to the staircase for Gryffindor tower, Harry running into the banister.  Harry’s head was still under his robes, and Hermione still had Harry’s glasses on.

“Harry I’m getting dizzy!”  she said, looking a bit sick from Harry’s glasses.

“Well I’m getting tired of running into things, seeing as how I...can’t with this over my head!”

They arrived at the top and saw the Fat Lady was still there.  They just stood there for a moment.

“Fancy letting us in?”  Hermione said smiling at the fat lady.

“Password.”  said the fat lady in a rather bored voice.

“Great, how are we going to get in?  It could be ages before someone comes and can let us in!”  Just as Harry said this, the portrait swung open and a girl came out. 

Harry stared at her from under his robes--He didn’t remember her.  He knew he would have remembered someone like her.  She gave a puzzled look at him and Hermione, who had turned her back to the girl pretending to tie her shoe.  He looked more intently at her and her long red hair as she walked away, only then recognizing who she was.  He felt his stomach lurch as he saw her walk away.

“Holy...is that...that was Ginny Weasley.  That was Ron’s little sister...”  Harry gawked with his mouth open.  “I guess she’s not so little anymore...”

Hermione rolled her eyes at him as they walked in through the swinging portrait, which they nearly didn’t make because Harry was so busy gawking at Ginny.

He was still thinking about her when they quietly walked through the port hole into the Gryffindor common room.  They looked around.  The common room hadn’t changed, except for there were pictures of Oliver Wood, Fred and George Weasley, Roger Davies, and some others they didn’t know on one of the walls.  Above them it said “Parvati and Lavender’s list of hottest guy graduates from Hogwarts.”  Also below there was a picture Harry recognized, he was the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.  Underneath his picture it said “And remember those who never got their chance.”  Harry didn’t understand.

They walked into the interior.  The common room was nearly deserted.  Hermione was looking around, and then grabbed Harry and shoved him and herself down behind a couch. 

“Shh!”  she whispered, then they peeked up over the edge of a chair and motioned to him an older girl sitting in a chair near the fire on the other side of the room, reading a book: Hogwarts, A History.  Harry took his robes off his head and his glasses off Hermione’s face so he could see.

Hermione clasped her hands over mouth as she gasped, as did Harry.  It was now her turn to gawk.  “Is...is that...me?”  The girl sitting in the chair was some what unlike Hermione.  Instead of Hermione’s big, bushy hair that they all knew, her hair was straight and shiny looking.  She had done a great deal of growing and developing, she was starting to really look like a woman.  She had always had a cute face, but Harry thought she looked very pretty indeed here.  Hermione was blushing.  I can’t believe that’s me... she thought, trying to get a better look.

Just then they heard someone coming down the stairs just a few feet away from them.

They both looked up to see the person coming from the dormitories.  A tall, muscular boy with flaming red hair came down the steps.  They look at each other “Ron?” they both mouthed.  Luckily he walked over to the fire by Hermione and didn’t stay over by them.

Harry saw Hermione’s face twist with interest at Ron.  She smiled as she stared at him.  It seemed Hermione wasn’t the only one who’d done a lot of growing and changing in those years.  She seemed more amazed at the sight of Ron then herself.

Ron reached the bottom of the stairs and looked over to see Hermione.  He grinned and walked over to her.  The reading Hermione looked up to see him and smiled, and past Hermione could see that her then oversized front teeth had now been shrunk.

“Hullo gorgeous!” Ron said flashing a mischievous smile at reading Hermione.  Past Hermione thought there had to be someone else in the room that he was talking to, but there was no one else.

“Well hello, Your Superlative Excellency.” future Hermione said sarcastically, her nose still in her book.

“About time you started calling me that.  Didn’t you memorize that book by the middle of first year?”

“No...yes.  But it’s still a good read.”

“You and your books--you’ll never change.  I can still hear you,” he raised his voice to sound like Hermione, “Oh Ron I got permission to get into the restricted section of the library!  I am ever so thankful of my idol, Professor McGonagall.  This is so exciting!”  Ron laughed a little as he walked over toward her chair.  Future Hermione tightened her mouth into a funny scowl.

“Shut up.  You’re right--I won’t change.  I’m trying to figure out if there’s anywhere we could let Rita Skeeter out in the castle and she wouldn’t hear anything, just because I would be awfully bored sitting in a jar.”  She said, standing up and walking over to a table next to Ron, flipping through the pages of another book.

“Why don’t you just squash her!  Then the little tart won’t be able to write any crap stories ever again and you won’t have to worry about it.  I mean she already escaped once and we didn’t even know until we saw more of her rubbish in the Prophet.”  Ron sat on the edge of the table right in front of her, blocking her book. “Unless you want her to write more love stories about you, Harry, and I.”  They both laughed.

Past Hermione and Harry gave each other a weird look.  They hadn’t the slightest idea what they were talking about.  Harry had never heard of a Rita Skeeter before, and love stories about the three of them?  What the?

“But I think she’d take it hard when she found out she wasn’t making everything up anymore.” Hermione said, as Ron stood up, inches away from her.

Future Ron was staring at  future Hermione in a way past Hermione had never seen past Ron ever look.  “She’d be terribly upset to find the “poor muggle girl” was not in love with Harry Potter, but his best friend, wouldn’t she?”  He said. 

She smiled.  Ron started to move closer to her.  She then glanced up at the clock on the wall and dropped the book out of her hands.  “Aargh!  I said I’d help teach flying lessons today with Harry!  I’m sorry, I have to go!”  She said quickly, and ran out the port hole exit.

Future Ron sighed, looking longingly at the porthole, and after a minute or two walked out also.

“Harry, I think we should go now.” past Hermione said.

“I think you’re right.  I’ll go get the cloak now.”  Harry replied, then quickly but quietly dashed up the spiral staircase and into his dormitory to get the invisibility cloak.

Hermione just sat there for a moment. She sighed, she wasn’t quite sure what he had just seen.  She felt Harry sit down next to her, he was under the cloak so she didn’t see him come down.  He threw the cloak over her and he once again became visible.  He had wiped the green gunk off his face and ditched the sheet-turban.

“That was close, Seamus was up there sleeping.”  Harry wiped some sweat from his brow.  “Okay, we need to get this over with.” Hermione nodded, then carefully they stood up and walked toward the door.

They walked out the port hole, the fat lady looking confused as they passed through.  For a few minutes they didn’t say anything.

.  From the inside of the invisibility cloak, it only looked like a thin gray veil was over them, they could see everything just as well.  They started to walk, a bit slower than usual because they had to walk together.

“So, what are you gonna name the baby?”  Harry laughed.

“Shut up Harry!”  She said quickly.

“Yeah...Let’s just find Dumbledore.”  Harry tried not to think about the previous events.  He was still waiting to see himself, but he thought it would be best to just go straight to Dumbledore now that they had the cloak.

They walked down the stairs very carefully, each of them silent as possible.  When they reached the last step, they turned around the corner and--

BAM!

Harry felt himself almost fall over from the collision, but Hermione grabbed him and tried to steady herself.  Then they looked up at what they had hit.

Staring back at them as if he could see them, was a 16 year old Harry Potter.  Past Harry could do nothing but stare.  He was wearing dirty, torn robes and looked exhausted.  His same round glasses and his face had some traces of dirt on them.  He was much taller and strong looking, not the skinny, short Harry they knew now.  Hermione didn’t say anything but she thought he looked very handsome.

“Ron? Are you under the cloak? Have you seen Hermione?”  Future Harry said, squinting his eyes and looking straight where they were.  He reached out his hand, but Hermione grabbed a hold of past Harry and slowly pulled them out of reach.  The older Harry just gave a strange look.

“Harry, I’m right here you weirdo.”  Said Ron, who was just a little further down the corridor, talking with Neville. 

Future Harry whipped around to face Ron. 

“She just left to go find you.”

“Shite.”  Future Harry ran out the doors to the outside field across the hall.

Future Ron turned back to his conversation.

Past Harry just stood there looking at the doors after watching himself leave.  “That....that was me.  Hey, I look good..”  Hermione gave him a look.  “Right.  We’re going to Dumbledore now.”  Harry started off at a faster pace then they had been going under the invisibility cloak, Hermione was finding it hard not to trip over the cloak.  She did trip once, next to an open closet in the corridor, but no one was around to hear the clatter except for Peeves, who actually looked somewhat scared, and floated off to another corridor very quickly.

They had reached the large stone gargoyle outside Dumbledore’s office.

“Er--I think I know the password...” Hermione looked unconvinced as Harry stuttered, “Sh-sherbert lemon.” But her look soon changed as the gargoyle stepped aside and the wall split in two.  They then walked up a large spiral staircase that moved them upward by itself.

“Harry this is so fascinating.” Hermione said looking down at the escalator-like staircase moving her along.  They then reached a pair of chestnut doors, which Harry saw, still had the brass knocker of a lion with an eagle’s head and wings.  “Should we just knock?  We can’t take the cloak off because he might not be the only one there.”

“Right.  Well, I guess we should knock, then when he comes to the door tell him it’s urgent that we speak with hi---”

The door opened on Harry in mid-sentence.  There stood Dumbledore, his same half-moon spectacles gleaming.

“I’ve been expecting you.  My office is vacant at the moment so you can take the cloak off.”  He said walking over to his desk.

Hermione and Harry exchanged strange looks, but shrugged and removed the cloak.  They slowly walked into Dumbledore’s office and sat in the two red velvet chairs placed in front of his desk.  They remained quiet but with a thousand thoughts running through their heads, just gazing at Dumbledore.

“Ah, it is so nice to see you two like this again.  Brings back memories of those days before...well you will find out in due time.  Makes me feel young again.”  Dumbledore smiled kindly, “So have you seen anything interesting since you arrived?”

Hermione was the first to speak.  “Dumbledore, Harry and I are both very confused.”

“As you should be.  I suppose you are wondering how I would know of your arrival?”  He gave them a reassuring look.  “As this is the future, I know what happened in the past, and therefore I know of the events with you turning the Time-Turner the wrong direction and ending up here, in what is your possible future.”

Harry thought about this for a second.  He guessed it made sense, although he was still confused.  “Wait...what do you mean our possible future?”

“Well Harry, seeing the future is a very intricate process, the one you are in now, is most likely what it shall be like, but nothing is set in stone.  It was formed by the choices that you are most likely to make.  And though it is rare, sometimes different choices are made and things are changed.”

Hermione looked up, “But with us having seen what we saw today, doesn’t that change things?  Won’t we be less likely to make the same choices if we think we know what is to come anyway?”  She looked a bit fearful whilst speaking.

“Exactly right, Miss Granger, exactly.  Which is why, when this is over, I’m going to have to put memory charms on you both.”  He looked somewhat unpleased with the thought of this.

“Well, I think we are ready to go ahead and go back to our present Dumbledore.”  Harry said.  He felt as thought his head was about to explode with all this new complicated information.  Although, he didn’t exactly like the idea of having a memory charm put on him, and knew Hermione definitely wouldn’t, but he saw the point of it.

Dumbledore took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes.  “I would like for you to be able to get this over with too, Harry, but unfortunately I do not have the power to send you back at just any time.  Nor does Hermione’s Time-Turner, as it has been made inactive by the ministry when they found out of your accident.  I just have to talk to some people at the ministry, and you should be able to return home around the 25.  Today is the 21.”  He seemed awfully calm about the whole situation.

Harry had never not trusted Dumbledore’s advice, but he felt uncomfortable.  “Dumbledore, what are we going to do?  We aren’t allowed be seen, but it’s going to be hard for both of us to stay under the invisibility cloak for the entire week.”

“Yes, of course Harry.  Don’t take me for a fool, I have this figured out.”  he smiled.  There was a rapping on the door.  “Ah, there they are.  If you both would be so kind to wait in the wardrobe over there.”  He pointed to a tall silvery clothes-cupboard in the corner of the room.  Harry and Hermione thought this was a bit strange, but did as requested and climbed inside, shutting the door so it was open only a crack to see out of.

They saw Dumbledore walk over and open the door.  “Thank you Minerva.  Come in Miss Granger, Mr. Potter.”

Once again, Harry and Hermione took a seat in the red velvet chairs.

Past Harry and Hermione in the wardrobe could only see the backs of their future counter-parts heads.

“You wanted to see us Dumbledore?”  said future Hermione.

“Yes, one of the many times.” he chuckled.  “I have a few things I’d like to discuss with you two.”

“Well, I hope it doesn’t have anything to do us teaching the first year’s flying lessons this afternoon.  It’s not our fault!  They’re monsters!  I told you I can’t control Sheridan Malfoy.  He keeps trying to attack me on his broom saying his brother should have kicked my--”  Future Harry started.

“No worry, Harry.  I have no intention of having you, or Hermione fill in for Madam Hooch again anytime soon.” he said, eyeing Harry’s shredded robes.  “Well, I do have a few things to discuss with you.  And those things are,” he paused, then raised his hand, “sleep.”

Past Harry and Hermione saw their future self’s heads loll over in their chairs.

“You two can come out now.” Dumbledore said as he got up and walked over to the two chairs.

They crawled out of the wardrobe and walked over to Dumbledore.  “Why did you put them to sleep?” asked Hermione, staring at her slightly aged, unconscious face.

“Because you can’t very well do a Body Occupation if your subject is conscious can you?  And you would have been seen.”

“A body occupation?  Oh no I don’t like the sound of this.”  Hermione said quietly.

Harry had heard of this before, it was not like Transfiguration, with a Body Occupying spell, you physically were combining two bodies into one, with the mind of whoever was doing the occupying. 

“All I’m going to ask you two to do, is to simply sit down in the chairs where your future selves are sitting.”

“So...you want me to sit in my own lap?”  Hermione said, raising her eyebrow.

“Well...yes.”  Dumbledore motioned to the chairs.

Harry and Hermione both walked right in front of the chairs.  Harry thought this was a bit weird, but shrugged, and sat down in the chair.  He heard a swoosh noise, and felt a bit dizzy.  He didn’t feel his future self underneath him though, just the velvety cushion of the chair.  He looked over at Hermione, who had also sat down, but didn’t see her, he only saw the future Hermione gazing at him.  He looked down at his hands, to see they were slightly bigger, and he had thin horizontal scars all the way across the underside of both his elbows.  And he was wearing what his future self had on.

“There, not so hard was it?”  Dumbledore said lazily.

“Dumbledore...I look 17.”  Hermione said staring at herself in the mirror on Dumbledore’s wall.  She kept touching her hair.

“Well for the next week, you are.  You and Harry are both going to have to act like you are 3 years older than you are.  If you need any help you can come to me, but no one else is to know.  I’m going to give you this.”  He handed Harry a small brown book.  “It has your schedules in them and I believe everything you need to know about Hogwarts.  Since tomorrow is the last day before the holiday break, I expect it will not be so difficult to go through only one day of your classes.  Saturday is the last day of term, though, and then most of the students will be gone on holiday.  You don’t have any classes of course, but you have an event that evening.  You’ll need to wear dress robes—I guess muggles just call them dresses for women, but whatever.  Dress is formal.  It’s the Snow Shake dance—I thought up the name myself.”  Dumbledore smiled as a child would, when he tells you he has made a finger-painting on his wall, his eyes twinkling in the most familiar way.

“This is...crazy.  Absolutely crazy.  I can’t do this.”  Hermione said, panic stricken.  She was starting to breathe heavily.

“Well, Miss Granger I understand this is stressful, but we do not have a lot of options here,” he grabbed a small red box with gold embroided Chinese dragons on it off of his desk, and handed it to Hermione, “If you’re having trouble, just open this.  I have never found it to be that great, but Ludo Bagman insists it helps him feel very relaxed.”

Hermione cautiously excepted the gift, reaching out her hand and clasping the box, then quickly putting it in her robes.  “Why, th-thank you, Sir.”  She meant it though her voice trembled a bit.  :Who is Ludo Bagman?” she asked.

“Oh, someone both of you will meet soon enough.  Now, you two had better get back to your tower.  Dinner is in about 45 minutes, you should...prepare yourselves.”  He said standing up.  “Once again, everything you need is in that book.  I assure, you will be fine.”  Dumbledore walked over and guided them out of the office, ushering them out the chestnut doors.  “Oh and one more thing, Harry you have a Quidditch practice tomorrow at 7:00, you’re captain of Gryffindor team.  Hermione Professor Flitwick has your new order of SPEW badges that you need to pick up.  Have fun.”  And with that he shut the door on them, leaving them on the landing.

Harry and Hermione just stood there for a moment, staring a his peculiar door knocker, still trying to comprehend the whole situation they had gotten themselves into.

“Urm...Harry?” Hermione looked at Harry.

“Yeah?”

“When I fell earlier by the hallway closet, I think my Time-Turner fell off, we need to go get it.”

“Oh, alright.”

They went down the spiral escalator and through the separating wall.  It was much easier to walk without the invisibility cloak, folded neatly inside Harry’s dirty Quidditch robes that he was in now.

They found their way to the corridor Hermione had tripped in.  The door to the closet was now closed.  They looked around on the floor for it.

“I don’t see it anywhere, maybe it’s in the closet?  It was open before wasn’t it?”  Harry said.

Hermione opened the door to the closet and her and Harry went inside.  Hermione pulled down on a string and the light came on. 

Hermione’s thoughts flowed as she looked over the floor.  First to what Dumbledore had just explained to them, then that she was going to spend an entire week with future-everything.  What she didn’t see earlier, except for the way Ron looked.  Why her hair was normal now.  How differently her uniform fit her.

Harry’s thoughts were similar.  He was himself...but not as himself.  Ginny.  How much better it felt being about 6 feet tall.  If he was dreaming.

“Ow!”  Harry said as he bumped his head on the wall.

“Ah!  I found it.”  Hermione said.  The Time-Turner had landed next to a mop of Filch’s, against the wall.  She and Harry looked somewhat a mess from crawling around the dusty place on their hands and knees.

Harry opened the door to the closet, just as a short, dirty-blonde haired girl was walking by.  She stopped him and Hermione, giving them a strange look, as they had just come out of a closet and looked a little ravaged. 

“Hi, Harry.”  She smiled a toothy grin at Harry.  Her dark blonde, wavy hair went a little below her shoulders, and her appearance seemed somewhat untidy.  She turned to Hermione and just gave her a surly, annoyed look, and a snort.  Hermione looked confused.

She turned back to Harry.  “Have you seen Ron?  Where is he?  Didn’t you have Professor Snape’s Potions class with him today at 3:15 in the dungeons and he sits three seats away from you?”  She seemed impatient and talked incredibly fast.  Harry noticed she wasn’t dressed in a Hogwarts uniform, aside from the black robe she was wearing. She seemed impatient and talked incredibly fast.  And her voice--something about it--

“Sorry...haven’t seen him.” 

“Really?  Well if you see him tell him to come find me okay?  Really, make sure you tell him, I need to see him!”  She made a slight squealing noise, then walked hastily away. She walked with short, fidgety steps.  Harry realized what was different about her voice, she was American.

“I wonder what that was about.  Why is she so up on finding Ron?  And she’s American?”

“Maybe we opened a foreign exchange program.  I don’t know what she wants with your little Ronny-kins, Hermione.”

“Shut up Harry!  I am trying to burn that out of my memory!”  She laughed a little, but Harry could tell the whole idea of her and Ron made her a little nervous.  Harry didn’t know how Hermione was going to deal with that situation for the next few days.

They arrived at the marble staircase and started up it.  When they got to the fat lady their problem of not having the password was present again.

“Well, Dumbledore gave us that book right?  Maybe it is in there.”  Hermione suggested.  Harry took the small brown book out and opened it.  He found there were only three pages that had writing in it.  One page had map of Hogwarts—there were several new additions to the castle.  The next page had a square in the center, and below it said “Concentrate and Touch.”  The last page had their class schedules, a small list of events, and (“A-ha!”) the passwords.  Passwords.  Harry stared down at the page: Gryffindor- Amour Propre.  Ravenclaw- Perspicacious.  Hufflepuff- Travail.  Slytherin- Epizoo.

Harry looked up at the fat lady at the same moment he heard someone calling out to him.

“Harry!  Hermione!” 

They turned around to see one of the Weasley twins.  He was jogging up the staircase to the landing to meet them.

“How’re you two doing?  Holding up the mischief making at Hogwarts eh?” He smiled.  “George and I are here for a meeting with Dumbledore.  He sent us an owl, too bad really, we were still at the shop in Hogsmeade, just about to leave for the burrow, minutes from missing it.  George is talking with Peeves downstairs now.”  So it was Fred.  The twins were still the only people Harry knew of who could talk to Peeves in a normal manner--that is without getting sprayed with water or hit with something.  He still had that fiery look in his eyes, he may have graduated from school, but he hadn’t graduated from reeking havoc on everyone.

Fred eyed Hermione with a smirk,  “So how’s Ron?”  He seemed to point this question only to her.  She started to open her mouth, but Harry thought it would be better to change the subject.

“Want to come into the tower with us?”  The moment the words from Harry’s mouth had come out, he was met with protest from the fat lady picture---

“Oh no!  Not you again!” she wailed, referring to Fred.  “I thought you were gone!  What is this?  I refuse to let you in.  Absolutely refuse!  After all the years of you and...the other one of you running around terrorizing me, painting a mustache on me, telling Sir Cadogan I fancied him (“Aha!  Gentle and fair lady, that so wisely soughts after the heart of Sir Cadogan!  Please join me in my crusade to overtake the bowl of fruit on 3rd floor who challenges me so menacingly!”  Fred whispered to Harry.), hanging that obnoxious Slytherin boy from my frame by his knickers, and turning me upside down for two days--I’ve had enough!”  The fat lady was red in the face, she seemed to have said everything in one breath.  If pictures could breathe.

“Oi!  Come on woman!”  Fred turned to Harry and Hermione, “She likes me.” he smiled.

Hermione pushed Fred out of the way.  “Amour Propre.”

The fat lady seemed to be going through an inner struggle, but swung open.  “If I ever catch you alone boy I’m going to have a stiff talking through with you and I’ll--” Her voice became muffled and inaudible as the portrait closed behind them.

“She really does like us.”  Fred said smirking.

The common room was no longer deserted, there quite a few people around.  As soon as a lot of them saw Fred, they rushed over and formed a small crowd around him, bombarding him with questions.  This gave Harry and Hermione a chance to get away from everyone over in a corner.

“Ok, now we just have to wait over here and maybe no one will try to talk to us.”  Hermione said nervously as she sat her self in a plush chair.  Harry seated himself on the window ledge next to her.

“That’s not going to be so easy.”  Harry’s eyes were pointed at the portrait entrance.  Hermione looked up to see Ron heading towards them.

“Oh no...” Hermione started to get up, to try and make a run for her dormitory, but Ron was already there.  He stopped abruptly right next to Hermione’s chair, and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey guys, where have you been, flying lessons run an hour overtime?”  Ron asked, his eyes sparkling.

“We just er--Professor Flitwick wanted us to come pick up some SPEW pins.” She answered.

“Oh, okay.  Anyway, you guys missed the best Potions lesson ever!”  Ron’s eyes grew wide, and Harry and Hermione showed interest in this.  “It was so brilliant!  Snape was over talking to Malfoy about something, and his wand fell out of his robes, which made Malfoy’s cauldron shoot up into the air, and all the bubbling rat bile inside went all over Snape!”  Harry and Hermione burst into giggles.  “But the best was when the cauldron hit him on the head, and he fell flat on his arse!”  They were all clutching their sides, bent over in laughter now.  For a minute they completely forgot everything that was going on, until Hermione realized Ron was now rubbing her shoulder slightly.

“Well um...I’ve got to be getting ready for dinner!  See you in a bit!”  Hermione quickly stood and almost running went up to her dormitory.  Ron turned his eyes to Harry, sitting in Hermione’s now vacant chair.  Harry remembered the girl.

“Oh, Ron some American girl was looking for you.  She seemed really anxious to find you.”  Harry said.

“Oh no, Ainsley is always anxious to find me, isn’t she?  She’s nice and all, but Harry I am really starting to get tired of this.  She is always looking for me, wanting to talk to me, sit by me, study with me, aargh!  She’s like a...another bloody Colin!”  Ron’s eyes widened with laughter.  Harry snorted.

“What?”  They heard a voice call from a chair across the room.

“Nothing, Colin.”  Ron said.  “Mental, that one.  The look on his face the other day, when you outlined your scar in bright yellow highlighter, after he kept staring at it, priceless!”  Harry almost fell off the window ledge he was laughing so hard.  He and Ron continued to chat about things Harry wasn’t sure he completely understood for a while, until he realized it was about time for dinner and he was still wearing his dirty robes.

“I’ll be right back, got to get ready for dinner.”  Harry told him.

“Alright.  Hermione sure has been getting ready a long time.”  He cast a glance up toward her dormitory.

“Well...ya know...girls.”  Harry said as Ron smirked.  Harry headed up the spiral staircase to his dormitory.  He was passing the girl’s dormitory and Hermione opened the door.  She turned around and saw Harry, and jumped.

“Hermione what took you so long?”

“Uh, just thinking.  You know.  We should go to dinner.”

“Wait here, I have to change.”

Hermione just sat outside in the hallway for a moment until Harry returned, and they went downstairs together.  Ron wasn’t there anymore so they assumed he had already left for dinner.  They walked down to the great hall and spotted him at the Gryffindor table.

“There you guys are.”  Ron said, looking up from his plate, “What took you?”

Harry sat down next to Ron, and Hermione sat on the other side of the table.  “Just had to change.”  said Harry.

“I...I was...reading.”  Hermione mumbled, facing Ron but looking off somewhere else.

“I told you Hermione, just squash her, don’t bother looking for a place to put her!  Remember, no more stories.”  Ron grinned and winked at her.  Hermione had to think about this for a minute.  She thought about what her future self and him were talking about earlier that day.

“Oh--oh right.  Uh...Rita Skeeter...”  Hermione didn’t have the faintest idea who that was.

“Are you feeling alright?”  Ron asked.

“Yes.  I’m just a bit tired...”  Hermione said into her plate.

“Ron!  There you are!”  came an impatient American accent.

“Oh...hi, Ainsley.”  Ron looked very unenthusiastic as she flopped down clumsily next to him, making the table shake a little.  “Um, this is the Gryffindor table.  You are in Hufflepuff.”

“Well, not really, I was just placed there, I wasn’t properly sorted into a house, remember?  Anyway, I have to talk to you.”  She said speedily.

“What is it then?”  He sighed.

“Well I...Excuse me!  I’m trying to have a conversation here!”  She said glaring at Hermione who was looking at them.  Hermione rolled her eyes and turned away.  “I wanted to ask you something.”  She looked around, then back at Ron.

“And?”  Ron said, buttering a piece of bread.

“Will you go to the dance with me on Saturday?”  She said, looking quite nervous.

Ron looked up.  “Um, sorry, actually I’m going with someone else.”  His cheek flushed a little.

“Who?”  Ainsley spat.

“Well, Hermione...”  Ron said glancing at her.  Hermione didn’t know of this.  Ainsley gave Hermione an unfriendly look.

“But, won’t you get bored?” She said.

“Actually, no.”  Ron said, sounding somewhat angered.

“Oh.  See you later Ron.”  She shot Hermione another death look, and got up, going over to the Hufflepuff table.

“I’ve about had it with that one.”  Ron muttered angrily.  Trying to change the subject he then said, “So, how do you guys think you did on the Transfiguration exam?”

Harry and Hermione exchanged nervous glances.  “I think I did...very well.”  Hermione said slowly.

“Of course you did well, you always do, being completely brilliant and all.”  he smiled.  Then it turned to a scowl, as if he suddenly had a pain in his stomach.  “I don’t think I’m going to make it to 7th year you guys.”  Ron stared down at the table.

“Of course you will Ron.  I’m sure you did great...”  Harry said.  His face seemed to lighten up a little.

When they had finished dinner everyone left the hall to go back to their towers.

“Hermione, you want to go to the library with me?”  Ron said on their way up the staircase.

“Er---I can’t, I have a lot of Arithmancy to study and...I want to get to bed early.”

“Oh, alright.  I guess I’ll see you two later then.”  Ron said, sounding a little disappointed, and then turned around and headed down the corridor to the library.

They arrived at the fat lady.  “Amour Propre.”  Harry said, having to open the little brown book once again.  They walked inside to the common room, and repositioned themselves in the same seats they were in earlier.  Hermione landed in her’s with a thud.

Hermione folded her legs in her chair and stared out the window.  She reached in her robes and pulled out the red box Dumbledore had given her.

“What’s in it?”  Harry looked at the small box.

Hermione unhooked its golden latch and opened it.  Inside there were two small, silvery metal balls.  “Ancient Chinese Stress Relevant Balls.”  Hermione read off the inside of the box.  “Yeah, not that exciting, I’ve seen these all over muggle dollar shops. The directions say, hold balls in dominant hand, and move counter clockwise to relieve stress.  Odd.”  She picked the balls up into her hand and did so, to find that they made a soft bell sound when they were moved.

“Yes, don’t forget to move them counter clockwise, and not clockwise, you might be in a whole lot of trouble then.”  Harry remarked.

Crookshanks hopped up onto Hermione’s lap.

“Hello kitty.  Nice to know you’re still here.”  Crookshanks purred and his squashy orange face seemed content. 

Hermione continued to swirl the metal balls in her hand.  “Eugh, these don’t work.  You have a go at them.  I’m going to bed.”  She lowered her voice to a whisper, “Good night Harry.  I hope you wake up short and skinny.”  She snickered.

“Good night Hermione.  I hope you wake up with your normal hair.”  Harry replied.  Hermione waved and walked up the staircase to her dormitory, and Harry saw her close the door behind her.

“Have fun while I was in the library?”  Harry heard a voice say.  Ron was standing in the main area of the common room now, and Harry guessed had been there for a minute or two.

“Not really.  Hermione just went to bed.  I think I’m going to turn in too.”  Harry said. Ron gave him a strange look.  “Alright then.  Night Harry.”

“Good night Ron.”  Harry trampled up the staircase to his dorm room.  He opened the door and closed it behind him.  He walked over to his trunk, put on his pajamas, and hopped into bed, pulling his red velvet bed hangings shut.  He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, hoping that tomorrow he would wake up 13 again.

*           * *

“Harry get UP!  You’re going to be late you already missed breakfast!”

“Wha......t?”  Harry felt his eyelids flutter as the noise hit his ears.  He opened them a crack to see the outline of Hermione staring pointedly at him.  “Hermione...you’re not supposed to be in here...I had the weirdest dream that me and you were in 6th year and,”  Harry started to laugh, “you were going out with Ron...”  Harry continued to grunt with laughter for a second, until he opened his eyes a little wider to see that Hermione still looked 17.

“Yeah, Harry, too bad it was real!”  She scowled at him.

“Oh....oh no...”  Harry laid back down and buried his face in his pillow.

Hermione hit him on the back of the head.  “Come on!  You missed breakfast, you don’t want to miss your Care of Magical Creatures exam, which, you have approximately fifteen minutes to get to.”

Harry reached for his glasses and bolted out of bed.  “Well...leave so I can get dressed.”

“Oh no I was planning on staying, Harry.”  Hermione raised an eyebrow.

“You better not be!”  They heard Ron come into the dormitory.  He grinned at Hermione.  Hermione laughed nervously.

“Hurry up, Harry.”  She gave him a pointed look, moving her eyes to Ron, then left the room with him.

Harry finished dressing as quickly as he could and left the dormitory to find Ron and Hermione in the common room waiting for him.  Hermione was sitting on the couch with Ron on her lap.

“Oh, how cute.”  Harry laughed as Hermione widened her eyes at him when Ron was looking away.

As they had only five minutes to get down to Hagrid’s, they started to run, but Hermione couldn’t keep up in her skirt.  So Ron insisted on carrying her.  She refused, but he just picked her up anyway.

“Please come on Ron!”  She laughed, “This isn’t funny!”

“Why you laughing then?”  He smirked.  “You want me to carry you Harry?”

Harry just laughed and kept jogging alongside, until they finally reached Hagrid’s, just before class was supposed to start.  Hermione jumped out of Ron’s arms and stood on the other side of Harry the second Ron stopped jogging.

“Hi, Hermione.”  Draco Malfoy smiled at her.  Hermione looked confused.  Then he turned to Ron.  “What is this, the damsel in distress, Weasley?  I’m sorry, there’s no rescue from your dirty underwear collection, just as I’m sorry that she mistook you, a poor flea-bitten git, for a hero.”  He sneered, as he’d seen Ron carry Hermione.

Ron started to walk forward, but Harry grabbed his arm.

“Pity you can’t find someone to rescue your father from Azkaban, Malfoy.”  Ron said.

Malfoy stared back hard, as if he was about to lunge at Ron, but the site of Hagrid stopped him.

“‘Ey there, kids.  The exam i’n’t goin’ to be takin’ place ter’day  It seems the veela I’d had fer it managed ter convince Mr. Filch ter set em free.  Found him out ‘ere dancin’ with em last night, then they gotterway.”  They were snorts of laughter from everyone.  “I know yer all terribly upset an all…” he continued.  “So ter make it up ter you all, I’m gonna…” he looked up to see Malfoy whispering to Crabbe and Goyle, laughing about something, “I’m gonna have Mr. Malfoy put on a wig and dance fer you all like a veela.” 

Harry laughed especially hard at this.  Malfoy just glared at Hagrid, looking somewhat flushed, running his hand over his hair.

“Heh, it would be a good look fer ya Malfoy.  Anyway, I’ve got bout a dozen Reeking Rhinos in the pumpkin patch.  All yer gotta do is take em on a walk around the lake, they’re needin’ some exercising.”

Harry felt his stomach churn.  Reeking Rhino?  Please let them not be actual Rhinoceros’s.  He looked over at Hermione to see what she was thinking, but she didn’t have the slightest trace of fear on her face.

“Well, go get ‘em out, kids.”  Hagrid turned toward the edge of the forest, the pumpkin patch was behind his hut.

They all started to walk towards the hut.  Harry rushed over to Hermione, leaving Ron behind sitting on the ground.

“What are Reeking Rhinos?”  Harry whispered through his teeth.

She turned to him with a slight smile on her face.  “It’s lucky I have read about them, Harry.  They are not real Rhinoceros’s, they are more related to the reptile family.”

Harry saw what she meant as they walked into view of he pumpkin patch.  A dozen or so of these slimy creatures were enclosed in the fence, some of them trying to knock the fence over.  They looked like a cross between a duck, with its webbed feet under a roundish body, and a snake, with its fluid body movements, slithering tongue, and scaly skin. Harry though it also slightly resembled an old man, with its crinkly face.  They were electric blue in color, and about the size of a large dog.  It was easy to tell why they were called Reeking Rhinos, as they had a huge horn sticking out of their foreheads, resembling a Rhinoceros, and completely reeked of a horrible smell like chunky spoiled milk.

“If you keep it moving, it won’t be a danger to you, as they are very impatient and cannot sit still.  It’s fine Harry, really.”  Hermione continued as they reached the fence. 

Ron walked fast to catch up to them.  “Oh no.  I still have bruises from the last time we “played” with them, as Hagrid so kindly put us being dragged everywhere by them.  And that smell…”  Ron looked off into space, as if running the experience through his head once more, then gave a shudder.

Hagrid opened the fence and all the Reeking Rhinos came running out, toppling over a few students.

“Everyone grab a leash!  Don’t let em getterway!”  Hagrid yelled as the creatures were scampering in every direction, along with the students.

Harry ran to one Rhino who seemed to be moving a little slower than the rest of them.  He grabbed on to his leash, and starting speed walking behind it.  At least his seemed to be cooperative and didn’t drag him over large stones, and started walking in the path along the lake. 

Eventually most of the Rhinos did the same, Hermione and Ron had a particularly hard time getting their Rhinos to follow directions.  Hermione kept trying to get hers onto the path, but it seemed to rather fancy Ron’s Rhino and kept running over to it, while Ron’s Rhino kept trying to get away from it.  Hermione looked unhappy as she kept trying to make her Rhino go the opposite way of Ron with all her might, but her Rhino kept going back to him.

“Aww, Hermione your Rhino wants to have little horrible smelling babies with mine!”  Ron said when he happened to be close enough to her.

The three of them tried to stay near each other, but it was impossible, with the Rhinos running every which way in chaos.  They gave up, there was no way to control the Rhinos.

After an exhausting hour of running around all over with the Rhinos, Hagrid went into the pumpkin patch pen and blew some sort of silver whistle.  It made a loud, squeaky screaming noise.  Harry thought it sounded just like Dudley when he was having a tantrum.  All the Rhinos came running into the pen towards Hagrid, and all the students walked to the front of the hut and slumped down to the ground with relief.

Harry walked over to Hermione and Ron, who were both lying on the ground, breathing hard.  All of the students were very dirty and tired.  Hermione had split her lip open, and Ron was trying to check it out, but Hermione refused saying she was fine.   Harry noticed Hermione was slightly scooting further away from Ron.  Ron had a small cut on his head.  Harry didn’t seem to have any cuts, but he was definitely sore. 

He saw Malfoy, grass stains on his robes and hair disheveled, looking at the Rhinos with the kind of animosity he usually saved for Harry.  He then looked to Hermione.  He walked over to her, almost limping.

“Alright, Granger?”  He stuck out a hand to help her up.

Hermione gave a confused look, but declined and pushed herself off the ground.

Hagrid came out in front of them, smiling.  “Ah, wasn’t tha’ great?  They’re such feisty li’l things!”

The entire class glared at Hagrid.  His look changed to a sort of frown.

“Finnigan, yer better go to the hospital wing fer that, could leave a nasty infection.”

At lunch the students were all discussing whether or not their Care of Magical Creatures lesson being canceled was a good thing.

“At least Veela are fun to look at…” sighed Ron, who was looking off into space.  He suddenly snapped out of it and looked at Hermione.  “Not that I like looking at them.  That fun stuff--no, I don’t like it, never have.  Veela have no effect on me.”  He was starting to turn red, and stopped.  Hermione laughed nervously. 

“Oh shut up, you dimwit.”

“Really, Ron.”

 The three of them looked up to see Fred and George Weasley, who both took a seat by Ron, across from Harry and Hermione.

Ron grinned.  “What are you two still doing here?”

“Dumbledore wants us to stay in the castle until Christmas.”  George said.

“Yeah, its like we’re back here again.” Fred’s eyes twinkled.  He then looked at Harry and Hermione.  “Dumbledore has told us about your…situation.” He laughed slightly.  “Funny stuff, really.”

Hermione got a strange look on her face.  She thought no one was to know.

Ron was looking confused.  “What situation?”  He said puzzledly.

“Oh, nothing…er…when we went to get the SPEW badges from Professor Flitwick the other day, we…” Hermione was trying to think of an excuse.

“We were…seen by Filch, and he tried to give us detention, took us to Dumbledore…just a misunderstanding.”  Harry continued.  Fred and George were trying very hard not to laugh, but it wasn’t working too well.

Ron still looked somewhat baffled.  “Oh…alright…Filch is an idiot.”  He went back to his plate.

“Yes so, if you two need any help…with Filch, that is…”  George smiled.  “Don’t ask us.  Okay, okay, you can ask us.”  The twins got up and set down towards the large doors to the Hall.

Harry quietly took the small brown book Dumbledore had given them out of his robes.  He opened it under the table, and showed Hermione that she had Arithmancy next, while Harry and Ron had Divination.  Harry saw her take out the stress balls Dumbledore had given her and start swishing them in her hand.

“What’s that clanging noise?”  Ron said, looking around.

“I don’t hear anything.”  Hermione said, twirling the balls around faster.

The lunch bell rang and it was time for the last exam of the term.  Hermione got up, taking deep breaths, and said she would see them later.

“Good luck.”  Harry said, seriously.  She waved and left the Hall.  “Wish she had Divination with us.”  He sighed.  He too was now alone.  They started to walk through the crowd, out of the Hall.

Ron got up and slung his bag over his shoulder.  He gave Harry a strange look, reflecting his unseen thoughts, then just shrugged, “Yeah.”

They started up the many steps to Professor Trelawney’s room.  Harry figured he would take this time alone with Ron to talk.

“So…” he started, “how are you and Hermione?  Things...good?”  He tried to ask like he wasn’t completely clueless.

Ron stopped for a second, and looked out the window they were passing.  "There’s no one like Hermione."  He said, then started to move again.

"Sure isn’t."  Harry said.

"I think she can read in her sleep." Ron snorted, as they arrived at the silver ladder that went up to Professor Trelawney's room.

Harry climbed the ladder and stood in the dimly lit room.  Great.  I hate this class, and as an added bonus the room smells like a jock strap.  He followed Ron and took a seat at a table with him.

"Well, well, well.  Hello class, I am feeling particularly clairvoyant for our exam today.  Shall we get started?  Great."  Professor Trelawney's eyes glistened in the light from her fire place.  She crossed to the back of the room to a small area enclosed by purple curtains.  "When I call your name, you shall come back here.  Remember not to leave your astral body in your seat."  Professor Trelawney laughed hysterically for a moment, but no one else did.  When she had composed herself she looked up, "Alright.  Lavender, let's have one of my truer seers first, dear."

Lavender Brown giggled and jumped up to run over to Professor Trelawney.  Harry rolled his eyes.

Harry wondered how Hermione was doing in Arithmancy.  She was probably fine, he thought, she has read years ahead of her studying.

“So you’re going to the dance tomorrow with Ginny, right?  She’s all excited.”  Ron said, removing Harry from his thoughts.

“Er…I am?”

“Well she thinks you are.  You did say yes when she asked you.”

“Oh right.  Yes I’m going with Ginny.”  Harry didn’t say it, but he had never been more thankful for Ginny’s infatuation with him.  He smiled a little, then turned back to his Divination book.

Professor Trelawney’s voice sounded a second later.  “Harry Potter, come back here, dear.”

Harry got up and started across the room.  She opened one of the velvety deep purple curtains and Harry went inside.  The area was lit only by her glowing crystal ball, with a faint pinkish glow. 

“Now, Harry, I want you to clear your mind of any thoughts or worries.”

Harry looked up at her.  Quite hard to do, how ‘bout we try when I’m not having a time-turning crisis?

“Alright, look into the orb, look deep into its soul.  Now tell me what you see.”  She looked a bit creepier than usual in this odd lighting.

He looked into the ball.  He squinted his eyes, then relaxed them, trying to concentrate, but he couldn’t see anything other than sparkly crystal.

“What do you see?  I am seeing some quite interesting things myself, Mr. Potter.”  She giggled to herself.

“Uh…I see myself.”  Harry said off the top of his head.

“Very good!  And you see Miss Granger with you as well?”

“Er….yeah.”

“What are you doing?”

“We’re…we’re…there is great tragedy here.”  Harry tried to make up something she’d like.  Professor Trelawney interrupted.

“Yes!  There is!  Great job, Harry.  You may go now.”  She turned her head a little, “I’m very sorry you had to receive this unfortunate news today.”

“Yeah, no problem…”  Harry went out through the curtains and sat back down by Ron, who had to get up at that moment as he was the next person called.  Harry buried his face in his arms and layed his head on the table.

A few minutes later, Ron came back, with a weird look on his face.  “She is so creepy sometimes.  She basically did all my predicting for me.  I said I saw Hermione, and she said I was going to experience a huge betrayal.”

“Yeah, she told me something similar.”

Harry and Ron left the room, as their exams were complete.  They headed back to the Gryffindor common room.

“Thank god we don’t have anymore exams.”  Ron uttered, breathing a little heavy because of all the stairs they had to clime.

As they approached the fat lady, they heard arguing voices.

“No!  I refuse!”

“But I have the password!  I have the password, you have to let me in!”

“No, I don’t believe I do.”

“Come on!  We’re going to be here the next couple of days, you’re going to have to let us in woman!”

Harry looked up to see Fred and George trying to pry open the fat lady painting with their hands to get into the common room.  She was red in the face and looked quite angry.

“Get off of me!”  She said, as she opened herself a little bit, then slammed herself shut on George’s fingers.

George let out a wail of pain.

“What was that for?!  Ok screw this, I’m going to ask Dumbledore to replace you.”  Fred said.  George was staring at her with narrowed eyes, nursing his fingers.

Harry and Ron walked up to them.  “Amour Propre.”

The fat ladies eyes became very large.  “Aargh!”  She finally opened herself and the four of them went in through the port hole.

“Bloody hell!“  George shrieked.  “It’s not like we’re criminals!”  He and Fred flopped down on couches.

Harry and Ron sat in their usual two chairs by the window, waiting for Hermione to get back from Arithmancy.

“So what are you doing tonight Harry?” said Fred.

“Er…I have Qudditch practice at 7:00.”  Harry said.

“Oh…good you remembered.”  Fred grinned.  “What about you, Ronnie?  Got a date with your Hermione-kins?”  He and George laughed.

Ron shot them a look, “We are going to Harry’s practice.”

After dinner all of them were seated once again in the common room.  Ron had gone to get more food in the kitchen from the elves.  Hermione and Harry were sitting on the spiral staircase, and she had been telling Harry all about her Arithmancy exam, and how she was scared she had misspelled something and all her calculations were off.

“I’m sure you did fine.  I have Quidditch practice in a half hour, Ron said you had agreed to go sit in the stands with him.”

Hermione’s eyes got wide.  “Um, I have a lot of homework to do.”  She said and turned to go up the steps, but Harry grabbed her arm.

“Hermione, today was end of term, we don’t have homework.  You can’t just avoid Ron the whole time.”  Harry stared pointedly at her.

“I have not been avoiding him…”

“Please, everytime you’re near him you run the other way, say as little as possible to him, and put me in between you two.”

“Okay, I will just try and act normal with him.  Do I still have to come watch Quidditch with him tonight?”  She bit her nails.

“Yes!” Harry said.  Hermione then quickly turned red, then got up and ran up the steps.  “Hermione!  Come on, it’s not his fault we can’t tell him!”  he shouted up the steps after her.

“What’s up?”  Ron said suddenly appearing, looking up the stairs after her.  “Is she upset about something?”

“No.  Nothing.  Nevermind it.”  Harry jumped.

Ron gave him that funny look again.  “Alright.”

“Yeah.  I have to go get ready for Quidditch, sorry.”  And Harry quickly dashed up the steps, leaving Ron alone.

Twenty minutes later, they all walked out to the Quidditch field.  Hermione looked off towards the lake.  Harry tried to engage her and Ron in conversation, but he mostly just got “yeah” and “uh-huh.”  This could have been because their teeth were busy chattering in the cold.  He said goodbye and headed out onto the field, while they walked silently up to the stands.

Ron sat down on one of the benches, and Hermione awkwardly stood there for a moment, then hesitantly sat down about 3 feet from Ron.  He glanced at her with a strange sort of look, then turned back to the field, pretending not to notice.

“Hermione?”  Ron said, not turning to look at her.

“What Ron?”  She said, startled.  She was biting her nails again.

“You’re still going with me to the dance tomorrow, right?”

Hermione shivered a little and broke the eye contact.  “Oh, yeah.  Why wouldn’t I?”  She tried to keep her eyes on Harry, zooming around the field.

Ron’s head fell a little, so his eyes were on the ground.  “I don’t know.”  He looked back at her.  “So, when you were getting those SPEW pins from Flitwick the other day, did he…happen to mention anything about how we did on the exams?”

“Oh, yes he said we all did very…” Hermione looked up at the Quidditch field, “GO HARRY!  Oh wow, did you see that Ron?  Whew—that was a pretty good play right there now.”

“Missed it.  So what have you been up to today?  I haven’t seen you other than when your Rhino tried to sexually harass mine.”  Ron said, still staring at her.

Hermione gave a nervous laugh.  “Oh you know—er,“ she pursed her lips together, “books.”  She gave another very nervously forced laugh and looked back at the field.  “Good one Harry!”

“You and your books,” he smiled just slightly, out to the field.  “I believe we had a brilliant conversation about that other day didn’t we?”

“Brilliant…”  Her cheeks burned red.  “Er…Ron I just remembered I have…this thing.  I’ll see you.”  She smiled quickly, waved, and left the stands.   Dammit.  She thought.

Harry looked from the field to see her leaving, and sighed heavily.  He was having a lot of trouble concentrating, worrying about them, and it was even worse now that Hermione left.

After practice Harry and Ron walked across the field and up to the castle.  Ron was unusually quiet.  Harry was tired and didn’t feel much like talking either.  They were rounding the corner to the staircase and saw a short blonde siting, obviously waiting for someone.

“Ron!”  She had found that someone.

“Hello Ainsley.”  Ron said lazily.

“So…have you reconsidered taking me to the dance?”  She jumped up, smiling.

“I told you, I’m going with Hermione.”

She had a very serious look on her face.  “But, didn’t you listen to me?  I told you I saw--” 

“I’m going with Hermione.  Sorry.”  Ron said irritatedly, and kept walking up the steps.

Harry looked back a few seconds later when he heard Ainsley cry out.  She had sat down and sunk right into the invisible hole in the third step.  Harry laughed a little as she struggled to pull herself out of the problematic step.  She should be after Neville, not Ron.

Harry said good night to Ron and climbed the steps to his dormitory as soon as he got into the common room.  He was quite exhausted, his head spinning from his confusing day, his body tired from Quidditch.

Ron walked over to Hermione, who had passed out in a chair, with Crookshanks and a copy of Time-Turning Troubles on her lap.  He tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hermione?  Hermiiiioooonneeee?”

She jumped awake, Crookshanks jumping out of her lap, and her book falling on the floor.  “Oh!  Ron you scared me, I dreamt that…”  She looked up into Ron’s face closer, than stood up.  “That um, giant badgers were building duplexes on the Quidditch field.”

Ron laughed.  Hermione forced a laugh too, then saw him start to move closer to her.

“Well, I’ve got to be getting to bed.”  She started to walk away.

“Hermione wait.”  Ron walked up to her and grabbed her arm.  She turned to face him.  He stood inches away from her, looking down at her with a strange, almost saddened, look, then abruptly he bent forward and kissed her.  “Good night.”  He smiled.

Hermione’s face went pale.  “Uh…uh…good night.” Hermione felt like she had Harry’s glasses on again.  She tried to smile but it wasn’t a very big one, then turned around and ran up the steps, tripping halfway.

Ron sighed, with an upset look on his face, and slumped into a chair by the fire and watched her close the door to her dormitory.

Hermione reached her bed and flopped down on it.  She felt like her stomach had bunch of Riverdancer’s in it.  It wasn’t that she didn’t like Ron, because she did.  But she was used to a different Ron.  She was used to the Ron who didn’t speak to her for a couple months when he thought Crookshanks had killed his stupid rat.  She wanted to go home.  She was feeling incredibly tired all the sudden.

Harry lay in his bed, listening to Neville’s snores.  He had probably been lying there for a couple hours.  He kept thinking about everything.  He hadn’t heard Ron come upstairs yet. 

Silently, Harry and Hermione both wished for the same thing as they dozed off into the stillness.

*           * *

Hermione felt heat on her face.  She creaked open her eyes to the patch of sunlight from the window on her.  She knew where she was the second she woke, as one of her hands was touching her hair.  She forced herself out of bed, walking to her dresser, arms outstretched like a zombie.  She noticed the room was empty of the other Gryffindor girls.  She looked in her mirror.  Okay so I could get used to looking like this.

Hermione started to brush her hair and put on her red and gold sweater and blue jeans, as it was a Saturday.  Then she dropped her brush.  Oh no.  Saturday.  Dance.  She stared back at her terrified reflection.  She took out the stress relieving balls. 

“Okay…so how bad could it be?  You go, you have to dance with Ron a few times, you leave.  Not a big deal.”  She told herself.  She stared into her own eyes.  Maybe I’ll sprain my ankle.  She finished brushing her hair, and went down to the empty common room.

“There you are.”  Harry looked up from his book.  “Since when do you sleep late?  You’re usually the first one up.”

Hermione looked at her watch.  It was 1:30.  She glanced out the window.  It had snowed overnight, and it still was coming down in thick sheets.  She saw lots of students having snowball fights.

“I don’t know.  I was very tired last night.”  She looked around the room to make sure it was empty.  “I have to go to the dance tonight, with Ron.”

 “Hermione, you’ll be fine, really.” 

“Everytime I’m around him I feel really uncomfortable.”  She was pacing around, biting her lip.

“Well, I have to go with Ginny.  We’ll be okay.”  Harry said, his face reddening a little.  He smiled a little.  “I’m going to library to see if I can find anything that will help us, you want to come?”

“Of course I do.  So where is Ron anyway?”  She said, picking up a quill off the ground.

“Oh, he went to go talk to Professor Flitwick about something.  Lets go.”  Harry said as he got up.  They walked through the portrait hole and opened the painting.  They once again heard yelling.

“OH COME ON!  I have HAD IT with this, woman!”  George Weasley was yelling, almost purple in the face.  “Oh thank god!”  He said as Harry and Hermione walked out.  He grabbed Fred and they scurried inside, the portrait almost closing on them.

“WAIT!”  Came a scream from down the hall.  They saw Ainsley running towards the picture, but it closed too fast.  She squirmed with anger, stomping her feet as she jumped up and down, cursing.  She turned to Harry, giving Hermione her usual dirty look.  “Can you let me in there?  Please I need to see Ron.”

Hermione spoke.  “Sorry he’s not in there, and well, since you’re not a Gryffindor, we can’t let you in anyway.”  She smiled, then quickly dragged Harry away.

“She’s getting psychotic.”  Harry said.  “And this is only our third day of her.”

Harry and Hermione went to the also empty hall to eat some lunch.  Breakfast for Hermione. 

“I feel nauseated.”  Hermione said pushing her plate away.  Harry snickered.

Just then a gray owl flew by and dropped off a nice sized package for Hermione. 

“Open it.”  Harry said, his mouth full of bread.

Hermione wrapped her fingers around it, untied the string and ripped open the paper to reveal a large box.  She then removed the top of the box and slightly gasped. 

Inside the box was a very beautiful long, white dress.  She took it out and held it up to look at it.  It had no straps, and was made of a very silky material.  The bottom of the dress was bigger and poofy, with the silky material sloping down one side to reveal part of the meshy fishnet type of skirt underneath.  It reminded Hermione of something someone in Swan Lake might wear.

“Who’s it from?”  Harry said.

Hermione looked for a card, and found it in the box.

“It says:

My dear Hermione,

Hello!  I hope you are doing well, along with Harry and Ron.  I wanted to thank you for the gifts you sent Buckbeak and I, and for continuing to help us out.  I have been told by Dumbledore that there is a dance on Saturday, the 23.  I figured you could use a new dress, after Buckbeak ate about half of the one you wore last year :)  I hope you like it.  Good luck with everything!

Love, Sirius

Harry! This means we did end up saving him and Buckbeak!”  Hermione beamed.

Harry found himself incredibly happy now.

They spent a few hours in the library looking for any information they could find on body occupations, Time-Turners and time travel, but they found nothing helpful.&nbs