DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. does, and she has every right to do whatever she thinks is best for Harry Potter. I just love writing. So sue me. Wait, seriously… don't.
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Hermione's companions silently stared at her, eyes wide open and jaws slightly ajar. She had just finished telling her story…her real story…and all except one was finding it hard to believe. She shifted awkwardly and all but looked at Cole after seeing his expression which clearly told her what he was thinking. With a resigned sigh, she explained the inevitable.
"You look so much like him, I know you know that. But the way you acted toward me that time made me think how different you are from Harry." She said and smiled, her eyes brightening for a moment as she remembered that she would at least have someone to remind her of him here. "But now that I know you, I'm pretty sure you'd have gotten along."
Why wouldn't they have had anyway?
She then stood there in silence and gazed at him for a meditative time, noticing only then differences she hadn't seen before.
Cole's features were light and boyish, as Harry's were serious and tensed. The former was slightly taller and lean and looked to have been well-fed all his life, while the latter, at 17, needed more filling-out. And his hair…why didn't she notice before? It was not as raven-black as Harry's, quite more on the dark brown side--her own--but noticeable only when looked at closely.
The only dissimilarity she had noticed then was their eyes and it seemed pronounced now more than ever.
She shivered as she looked at him.
Cole's warm stare…and Harry's bright gaze…
How unlike he was from him…
Yet how unbearable it is to look…
"So, what are you going to do now?" Alex asked her, setting down the book that he had been reading to confirm everything Hermione said.
"Find a way to go back."
"But, No-I mean--Hermione, how will you do that?" Erin asked, standing. "You don't have the potion and you don't have much time to look for any spell to take you...what, a hundred years before?"
"That's why I told you everything." She said unknowingly.
"So…" Cole suddenly interjected; his ice cold voice, accusing and menacing. "You only told us the truth because you need us now, not before when you could have said something and not have pretended like you did. Why? Did you think you could just go home without anybody's help? I know you're smart, but I didn't know you could also be stupid."
Hermione found herself staring at him. She expected him to be surprised, yes, but not this.
`Come on, Hermione.' Scoffed a voice in her head. `Did you expect him to jump up and down in excitement when they find out you lied?'
"No reason to be like that, mate." Shawn said.
"No reason?" Cole spitted out, whipping about to face Shawn. "She just made a fool of us, telling things that aren't true. Tell me, isn't that a reason to be like this?"
Hermione could tell that the others agreed and it made her feel guilty even more. And she couldn't do anything about it now except apologize, which she knew would not be accepted by Cole as readily as the others would. But she decided that avoiding rejection would not help, not to mention that Cole had the right to be angry.
"Cole." Hermione said softly as she tried to look at him while he tried not to. "I'm sorry I lied to you. What I did was wrong. You welcomed me and treated me as if you've known me your whole life but I paid you back by pretending to be somebody I'm not. But please understand that I couldn't just reveal myself to people whom I didn't know. And I couldn't say anything about traveling because it was illegal and I shouldn't have done it." She said, and then she turned to the others. "I'm sorry, too, that I never bothered to say anything after I've known how great you guys are. I just thought that if I ignored it, I wouldn't have to deal with it. I admit I really had been stupid. But I'm not perfect and I did it because I love Harry."
"You didn't expect to get away with everything, did you? If you did, you should have thought otherwise." Cole made a move to leave, but turned back and said. "Just don't do anything rash, Noelle, or whatever your name is. I don't want to be tangled with your problems more than I am now."
With that, he rushed out of the room, and slammed the door. After a moment, they heard a "hey" as Cole shoved somebody out of the way.
"Don't mind him, Noelle--sorry--Hermione. He's just bummed because he likes you." Erin said rather scornfully.
This earned her a laugh from Hermione. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, like I said, you got him to care even though you've just met."
"That isn't desire, that's family instinct."
"Then why didn't it affect us? We're family, too, aren't we?" Shawn asked.
"Yes. But, he is a Potter. And I supposedly married Harry so that makes us closer."
"But what I don't get is how come you are here and the book showed something different."
Before any of them could say or think of anything, the door opened and all four of them, whipped their heads about to see who it was.
"Sorry for interrupting but…"
"Lauren." Erin said and suppressed an urge to laugh as she saw her clutching Cole by his robe.
"…my brother has something to say." She said, releasing him then tapping her foot and looking expectedly at Cole, who was looking daggers at her.
With a final look of disdain, he straightened out his robes and turned to Hermione, this time, his expression suddenly changing and wearing a sheepish look. "I'm sorry." He said finally.
Hermione smiled tentatively. "It's ok. I completely understand. If I had been in your place, I would have been worse."
"Yeah, but I had no right to do that…I was disrespectful and my mum wouldn't want me talking to my grandma that way."
Hermione's eyes widened…and she lightly punched him on the arm.
"Now I'm your grandmother?" She asked, her shoulders shaking with helpless laughter.
"Technically, no." He said, and then looked thoughtful. "But I couldn't go around calling you my great-great-great-grandmother Hermie now, could I?"
"I guess not."
"Ok!" Erin rubbed her hands together as she stepped in the middle of the group. "Now that we've cleared things up, why don't we do something about Hermione's problem?"
"I was right, wasn't I?" Suddenly, Lauren beamed for no reason. "You're Hermione Granger."
"You thought she was somebody else? How come you didn't tell us?" Alex interjected.
"It wasn't my business to go telling you people. And besides, I wasn't that sure." Lauren said, and then turned to face Hermione. "I take it you saw the locket."
"Locket?" Alex asked again, incredulous.
Erin had a sharp intake of breath. "Your locket…" She pointed at Lauren, "And yours?" She asked Hermione.
"Yes." The girl in question nodded. "But something is wrong with the book."
Lauren frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Yesterday, it said I married Ron. But when I looked awhile ago, it said I married Harry."
"Could you have just imagined it?"
"No. I wouldn't think of something like that."
"Maybe somebody was playing a trick on you."
"No one knew where I came from until now."
"So how would you explain it?"
"That's what she's asking, git."
"Don't call him that!"
"Sorry."
"Ok, stop…this is not helping at all." Hermione said, holding up both her hands. All five turned their heads toward her. "Everything is completely different today. There is an explanation for it, I know it. And it had better be good because all this thinking is giving me a headache. But the problem is--I have no idea where to start. Do you know someone who can have an idea about this?"
No one answered.
"It's hopeless, isn't it?" she asked them, slumping down on the bed. "My going back."
"No…it's not. We won't let it happen." Alex said resolutely. "If you don't go back, we won't exist at all. The Potter family tree and the Weasley's and Malfoy's would be rearranged because if you don't marry Harry Potter, there would be major changes."
Everyone couldn't help but pause to think about what he had just said. Even Hermione found herself gaping at this. She didn't realize it before. She knew they would forget about her, but it slipped her mind that she would actually break the family tree.
"The headmistress…" Lauren suddenly said.
It took Hermione only a second to realize that option before she got to her feet and left the room in a flash.
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Hermione's heart was skipping as she dashed out of the tower and straight to Prof. Dumbledore's former quarters. Despite the many faces that were being attracted by her mad run, she still impelled forward until she saw the gargoyle which hid Dumbledore's office a hundred years ago.
She was there only a minute before she realized that she didn't know the password. But without warning, she saw the gargoyle moving sideways and she found herself face to face with Hogwarts' Headmistress.
"I was wondering when you would be stopping by." She smiled knowingly as she stepped aside to let Hermione in.
"You were wondering?" She got onto the flight of steps even as she pondered on what the headmistress said.
"Yes." She said simply and waited until the ascending staircase stopped behind a large door.
Only when they had stepped in did she finally talk again.
"I mentioned to you before that you would be telling me what you didn't want to the night you came, didn't I?" She said as she motioned her to sit down on either of the two seats in front of her desk.
Hermione could only nod.
"You are ready now, then?"
Hermione nodded her head once more.
"Well…" She said, "Begin…"
"I…"
"Professor!" Cole's voice suddenly erupted from the doorway before she could get another word out. He was followed closely by Alex and the others.
"Mr. Potter?" Eleanor Warren said in a tone more amused than questioning. "What are you doing here?"
"We--we came to--h-help." Alex panted.
"I see." The headmistress smiled. "On what? As I recall, I do not even know that Ms. Sheldon needed assistance of some sort."
"She does." Erin nodded. "Tell her, Hermione."
"Hermione?" She asked in false surprise. "What are you talking about? This girl here is Noelle Sheldon."
"Professor…" Hermione said in a light voice. "I know you know who I am."
The headmistress gazed at her for some time with a strange smile on her face. It was unnerving in every way and Hermione thought Eleanor Warren didn't really have an idea about who she was, but that was before she spoke in a highly pleased tone. "I certainly do, Ms. Granger." She admitted. "Why wouldn't I know the smartest witch of her age? I grew up learning your principles. And of course, Dumbledore speaks highly of you." She tilted her head towards a blank portrait. It was, as Hermione presumed, Dumbledore's.
"I…uh…."
"Nonetheless, I don't know the reason why you traveled in time, but I do know you need help getting back."
"How?"
"I know something about time traveling myself. But, unlike you, I had the fortune to return without delay to my original time. If I remember correctly, you cannot go back unless your will is as great as it had been when you left, am I right?"
"Yes."
"And yours was not?"
"Yes…no…" Hermione groaned. "It's different today. I changed my mind."
"You did, did you?" She nodded and smiled. "Three more days, am I correct?"
"Yes." Hermione answered. "Can you help me?"
"I'm afraid I can't." Eleanor Warren said.
"Why?" Shawn asked.
"Because I have never dealt with such matters before."
"But you're…"
"The Headmistress?" She supplied helpfully, not bothered by the tactless comment. "I know, Mr. Potter. But one can only hope to be Albus Dumbledore, and never be one."
"So, I would be staying after all." Hermione sighed, defeated.
"Hang on…" Prof. Warren said. "I didn't say I didn't know anyone who could help."
"What are you talking about, ma'am?" Hermione asked. "If the Headmistress of Hogwarts doesn't know what to do, then who does?"
"Why, Hogwarts' greatest Headmaster, of course."
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The door to his quarters opened and the aged, but still strong and wise, former headmaster of Hogwarts found himself staring at this generation's troublemakers. But somehow, there was something odd about their group. Someone was out of place. But she wasn't, in his mind. For she belonged to their crowd, not this one, surely, but their kind.
He couldn't see quite clearly, for the brightness of the sun streaming inside his residence was blocking his true vision. But when she spoke, he began to smile and recognize.
"I take it you've done something quite remarkable again, Ms. Granger."
"Remarkable and illegal." She muttered as she moved closer. "Oh, Professor!" She cried out in desperation, not holding back the tears that had formed in her eyes when she saw familiarity and hope in front of her. "I've done something stupid. And now I don't know what to do."
"I had expected you to have been more careful after what Prof. McGonagall told you in your third year. But I'm quite sure my old self gave you the talk already, so I dare not waste time telling you how time traveling can be dangerous. What is the cause of the problem?" He asked as the others entered and sat down.
And so, she proceeded to tell him everything, not stripping down any event and any word that have been spoken during the connection. At the end of her tale, Dumbledore was looking quite amused, rather than concerned.
"You did all that for a simple reason, Hermione?" He asked, abandoning all formalities. "Again, I would have expected you to have done the simplest thing, which was to tell him the truth."
"I know, sir." Hermione said. "But it was too late when I realized how uncomplicated it had been to tell him."
"So, naturally, you want to go back after what you saw."
"Yes." She said.
"But how did it happen?" Alex interrupted.
Prof. Dumbledore looked at him and smiled.
"Quite mind-boggling, isn't it?" He said. Then he faced Hermione with a mild expression of sternness. "Ms. Granger…" He began. "When you had traveled through time, you triggered a reaction that changed everything from that moment on to the point where you had landed here, in this generation. A twist through time, if you would call it that."
"A twist through time?"
"You have altered the future by going here and now, it hangs in suspension, waiting for your 7 days to be up so that it can produce your permanent future that would be determined by your decisions…
"What you are seeing is only temporary." He said, his eyes roving and landing on the five others who were with them. "This, everything around you, would have been the product of your next correct move."
"Correct move?"
"We all have our decisions, good and bad. And whatever we choose has its own outcome. It just so happens that your next correct move--here, in this setting--would have been to go back. Had you returned, you would have married Harry and after one hundred years, have descendants such as Nicholas. But you didn't. That's why everything is still the same--waiting until you make your next choice."
"I would have gone back had I not seen the Tyro Elucidates After Hogwarts." Hermione mused aloud.
"Ah! And this leads us to your next query--how come what you saw in Tyro Elucidates After Hogwarts yesterday was different from today."
When no one spoke, he continued, rather looking as if he were enjoying himself with the attention.
"You went from the present to the future in a span of an hour. You've skipped a hundred years' worth of information which had been contained in an item that has no connection with your family--something that wasn't of importance to you until yesterday. When you did that, Tyro Elucidates After Hogwarts didn't change. What you saw when you sought it out, was the unaltered details of your marriage to Ronald Weasley. The book, at that time, had still been replacing the information. And what you saw today was its product."
"So, if that's how it happened, then will they be gone after my 7 days are up?" She asked, looking at the other occupants in the room.
"Naturally. You wouldn't be there to marry Harry, would you?"
The thought of not bearing these wonderful people was awful. But even more excruciating was the thought of not marrying Harry. How that would have happened, she didn't care, as long as she knew they would have ended up together.
"I have to go back. I have to." She finally said.
"Are you saying that because you know you are to marry Harry? Because if you are, here is another warning. Things will not be the same as before. Choices like chances are given once. You decided to stay when you were given that option. The choice to return would have been the correct move. You passed that one and now, you have to determine the next correct move that has already been set for you."
"And what is that?"
"I do not know." He said solemnly.
She bit her lip. Now what would she do? What if she was destined to stay here? But then, what would happen to these people? She didn't want to lose them. But her next correct move could possibly be to never return, to live a life she had yet to see. If it was her destiny, how can she avoid it?
But as she looked at the concerned faces of her new friends and the knowing smile on Dumbledore's face, she realized that she was in charge of her own destiny. And if she were to create a wrong move once again, she didn't care. She would do what it takes to live with Harry and Ron and risk facing what she had avoided in the first place.
If this was a wrong decision, it didn't matter. She had been making bad decisions lately and she could afford one more.
"I'll do it."
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