A Brief History of Time
A few days before the final task she was walking to dinner with the others, trailing slightly behind with Neville as she tried to explain to him the basic conjurative principles behind a soothing charm; it was slow progress. "Alice!"
She looked round at the sound of her name and flushed to the roots of her already red hair. Striding across the Entrance Hall looking as handsome as ever, was Cedric; in the corner she could see Cho and some of his friends waiting for him.
"Alice, hi," he smiled as he reached her and nodded towards Neville. "How are you?"
F-fine," she managed.
"Look," he lowered his voice conspiratorially, "I realised I never did say thank you properly, for smoothing things over before the Yule Ball. You were terrific about it so I just wanted to say thank you, I guess."
"You're welcome." There was that funny swooping sensation in her stomach again. "It wasn't a problem, and I - I hope the Task goes well for you on Thursday."
"Thanks," he grinned again showing off those rows of even, white teeth. "Well, I guess I'll see you later!"
"Bye," she whispered to his retreating back. After a moment she became aware Neville was staring.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Before she could say anything else she was forced to leap quickly to the side as Fred and George came leaping down the stairs several at a time and landed right where she had been standing.
"What did Golden Boy want?" Fred scowled in the direction of the Hufflepuffs.
"Mind your own business," Alice told him.
"Why?" George wailed plaintively. "Yours is so much more interesting."
"I don't know, Evans, have we taught you nothing in your years at Hogwarts? You need to get some better friends."
"Better than you two, you mean? I was just thinking the same thing, come on Neville, let's see what's for dinner. I'm starving." She looped her arm through her friend's and walked him towards the foody aroma wafting through the enormous oak doors.
Noticing his wide grin she asked him for the second time in as many minutes: "What?"
"It's nothing really, you're just funny when those two are around - not that you're not funny the rest of the time," he hastened to add worried he might have caused offence. "You're just different. You give as good as you get."
Alice blushed again, not knowing what to say, so she opted for nothing and went to sit down.
Dinner, Ron informed them eagerly the moment they appeared, was fantastic, so it was a very full and sleepy group of Gryffindors who found themselves winding their way back through the castle later that night. Alice was just making the mistake of thinking what a nice evening it had been, all things considered when they rounded a corner only to run straight into Malfoy and a large group of his followers. As well as the usual lumbering presence of Crabbe and Goyle they were also to be graced with Pansy Parkinson's supercilious smirk, Blaise Zabini who always looked as though he'd stepped on something foul and a scrawny, pimply boy Alice was sure was called Nott. None of them looked as though they were out for a casual evening stroll, especially one so far from the Slytherin common rooms. Malfoy had been increasingly insufferable since term restarted, lording it over the school and wearing the smuggest of grins whenever Harry and his friends came into sight. The exact grin he had plastered across his pale, pointed face at that moment.
She saw Harry reach reflexively for his wand.
"Now, Scarhead, that's not a very nice way to say hello, is it?" The Slytherins' wands were in their hands almost before Alice could blink. "Someone might take offence."
"Someone might get the right idea then," Harry growled.
Hermione groaned and from the corner of her eye Alice could see her trying to shoot warning glares at Harry who was steadfastly ignoring them. Alice slipped her hand into her pocket so her wand was within easy reach.
"Is Black enjoying his freedom? I'd ask if he had gotten used to the space, but from what I've heard his hovel is little bigger than a cell anyway, maybe it makes him feel at home."
"On the topic of family," Harry spat, riled by his mention of Sirius, "how's your Aunt?"
Malfoy's smile widened, but there was a glitter to his eyes which made Alice uncomfortable.
"Just leave it, Harry," Hermione told him. "He's not worth it."
"She's right, Harry," Neville added quietly earning himself a glare from the Slytherin.
"Shut your stupid, fat face, Longbottom. You're no better than your parents and you'll end up just like them."
"You be quiet about my Mum and Dad!" Neville's face purpled rapidly as his hands fumbled for his wand. "Leave them alone!"
"Blithering idiots the pair of them," Malfoy continued and Alice could start to feel her blood boil. She could see the others casting confused glances at Neville.
"Shut up, Malfoy," she warned her voice steely.
"Shut it yourself, Potter. I'll say what I want about his parents; I hear they're a right pair of nutters, even compared to St Mungo's usual -"
Alice didn't need another invitation, the jet of light was leaving her wand almost before she knew what she had done. "Silencio!"
At exactly the same moment Neville had cast his own spell and the two collided explosively in front of the Slytherin knocking him backwards several paces into his friends. Struggling upright and attempting to wrench his robes back into place, Malfoy let out a snarl, or he would have had it not been for Alice's spell. Instead his lips curled back in anger and his eyes narrowed in hate.
It was all the call to arms his cronies needed, jets of light suddenly whipped their way along the corridor and the Gryffindors had to dive to the side, conjuring shield charms as they went in order to protect themselves. Perhaps because of the fact it had combined with another spell, or perhaps because Alice's concentration had lapsed, the spell on Malfoy seemed to give way after a few moments and a stream of curses and threats spewed from his mouth.
Spells flew around the around their heads, lighting up the walls with a rainbow of colours. Goyle howled as his engorged hand blew up like a balloon after being on the receiving end of one of Ron's spells and Pansy Parkinson cursed with unladylike fluency after Alice reduced the bottoms of her robes to tattered threads..
"I'll get you for that you filthy halfblood!" Her scream echoed along the corridor as she dived towards her only to be deflected by the shield Harry had conjured. His distraction was momentary, but it allowed Malfoy to seize the opportunity and attack Hermione who had turned to check on Neville.
"Look out!" Alice yelled, diving towards her friend's unprotected back in an attempt to knock her out of the way. In the moment that she was airborne it was as though time slowed, she could see Hermione turn with a look of confusion on her face, eyes casting around for the threat, Ron and Neville rushed forwards too, but they were all too late. The spell hit Hermione squarely in the chest with a terrific bang just as Alice caught her arm and the two of them were thrown back into the boys. Dazed she looked up to see the gloating expression on Malfoy's smug face before there was a sudden sound of cracking glass coupled with the feeling that the air around her had torn. As rush of wind buffeted her face and the world began to swim. Feeling sick she screwed her eyes tightly shut.
When she finally felt less queasy and opened them again Malfoy had gone. In fact the entire corridor in front of them was empty. Alice blinked. Where had they gone?
"Hermione," she spoke at last, "what did you do?"
"Nothing," her friend replied from the ground next to her. She looked as bewildered as Alice felt.
"Yes, you did," Ron suddenly complained. "You're squashing my feet can you please get up?"
The girls scrambled to their feet and Alice was just in the process of giving Harry and Neville a hand to theirs' when a soft squeak escaped from Hermione.
"What's wrong? What is that?" Harry asked.
Hermione remained silent, her hair a tangled mess and her robes pulled askew, she held the Time Turner in her hand, the chain still securely around her neck. The Time Turner which now appeared to be cracked and leaking sand at an alarming rate. As Alice watched in horror Hermione turned the remnants of the hourglass and the only thing to come of it was that grains of glittering sand trickled through her friend's fingers to pool on the floor.
"Hermione, what happened?" Ron repeated Harry's question. "Where has Malfoy gone?"
Hermione ignored them, a stunned and slightly nauseous expression on her face. With a sinking feeling of her own Alice turned to face the window. It had been dinner time before, the last of the evening sun had been streaming in through a window at the end of the corridor, a window which was now cast in shadow as rain pelted down outside and thick, purpling clouds blotted out the light.
"Oh Merlin," Alice moaned, her quick brain didn't take long to put two and two together.
"What?" The boys were beginning to panic now, the confusion on their faces being replaced by concern at the thought of whatever had turned Hermione into a veritable statue.
"Malfoy hasn't gone anywhere," she whispered trying to take deep steadying breaths. "He's exactly where we left him I should imagine."
Harry looked from his sister to his girlfriend as Ron scratched his nose in bewilderment and Neville tried to neaten out his rumpled robes. "Will someone please explain what in the name of Merlin is going on?" He was getting testy now.
Alice looked to Hermione, unsure whether she would or even could speak. It was her secret in part after all. Still, they all definitely deserved to know now. Besides Hermione looked as though she would vomit if she opened her mouth.
"That's a Time Turner," Alice told them eventually, nodding towards the ruined golden object in Hermione's hand. "Malfoy must have hit it when he fired the curse at Hermione."
"And a Time Turner is…" Ron seemed no less perplexed.
Hermione suddenly spoke up then, her voice hushed and trembling as she fought for the words to explain. Her brown eyes were wide and scared as she finally looked up at them all. "It's what I've been using for the last two years to get to all of my classes. McGonagall gave it to me in Third Year, the night we arrived off the Hogwarts Express and Harry had been attacked by Dementors. I go to one class then use the Time Turner to go back and do the time over. Except this time I go to another class instead. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone."
"I forced her to tell me when I worked it out for myself," Alice told her brother as he opened his mouth, a familiar, stubborn set to his jaw. He shut it again with a snap, though it was clear he was still peeved.
It seemed to take them a few minutes to put the pieces of the disjointed puzzle the girls had given them together. It was Neville who spoke first. "So if it's broken now, and Malfoy is gone… does that mean that we've gone back in time?"
There was a horrible silence as they let the prospect of this sink in.
"Actually," Hermione was close to tears now. "We could be any time. The Time Turner normally only goes back, but since it's -"
"Exploded?" Ron added helpfully.
"Yes… well," she sniffed, "well we can't know which way we travelled, or how far and we… we…" A sob burst from her lips and Harry stumbled forward to put an awkward arm around her, patting her shoulder as she dissolved into tears.
"We can't get back," Alice finished her sentence, feeling as grey as she probably looked at the prospect.
They would have spent longer working themselves into a frightened froth about this if it hadn't been for the sound of footsteps sounding around the bend in the corridor.
"Come on," Hermione seemed suddenly to snap out of whatever fug she had been in. "We can't be found here. We need to move." Grabbing Harry and Ron's arm she began to drag them along the corridor as Alice and Neville trotted along behind. "Quickly!" she hissed. "We don't know where else we are, we can't be seen!"
Alice decided not even to bother working out which part of that statement confused her the most.
Sliding into a nearby cupboard they were just in time as not a moment later someone went stomping past, muttering unintelligibly about something. Alice listened until the heavy, uneven footsteps had dwindled before she allowed herself to let out the smallest sigh of relief.
"So, now what do we do?" Neville looked to them for answers as they lit there wands. "I mean, is this it? Are we stuck in the past?"
Alice moved a mop away from her eyes so that she could better look to Hermione for answers. Well read as she was it was her friend's Time Turner and Alice knew she had done more research on the subject.
"Well... Not necessarily, I mean if we've only been sent back in time and it was for say... a week then we could in theory just live through the week, making sure we're not seen obviously, and then resume our lives from the point at which we left."
"If we've gone back its more than just a week," Alice cut in before the boys could say anything.
"How do you know?" Harry frowned at her. Hermione did too, but this was more because she had been contradicted than out of the same confusion.
"Because it's raining cats and dogs outside," Alice explained patiently. "And it certainly hasn't done that in the last few weeks."
There was silence again as they considered the daunting prospect that there was every chance they might be completely lost in time with no way back. She'd never see Sirius again. The thought hit her like a brick and she was suddenly blinking back tears, furiously refusing to cry in front of her friends. She'd never see the Weasley's or Luna or even Archimedes, she had a soft spot for the bird despite the fact it was violent and foul tempered. Swallowing down the mounting panic she felt at the thought she might never see her friends and family again Alice focused on the present. What were they going to do?
"So what are we going to do, then?" Ron echoed her question.
Harry picked up the chain hanging loosely around Hermione's neck and examined the twisted remains of the Time Turner. There was still a fine trickle of sand escaping from it; only half of it was left. "Can we fix it?"
"I don't -"
Before she could even finish her sentence there was another blinding flash of light and Alice felt the same rushing, swirling sensation she had experienced during the fight with Malfoy. Her friends disappeared from view though she could still feel the deathly grip Neville had secured on her arm. Instead a screed of colours and blotches of light filled her vision as a shrill whistle seemed to sound in her ears. Then it was over and with a jolt the world stopped spinning and they were back in the cupboard again, although this time the door was slightly ajar and a thin thread of daylight streamed in. Almost immediately hissing whispers filled the cupboard.
"Now where are we?"
"Quick, put that light out."
"Shh, I can hear people outside."
It was an understatement; it sounded as though the Hogwarts Express was careering past out in the corridor. Laughing, chattering, stamping, whistling, raucous students seemed to be making their way by with all the subtlety of rampaging Hippogriffs.
"Harry, wait what are you doing?" Hermione began as Harry went to push the door further open. "Harry!" Too late she reached out a hand to stop him, he had already stuck his head outside. When he quickly snapped it back in and pulled the door back to where it had been he was grinning from ear to ear. Though what there could possibly be to grin about she had no idea.
"What's so funny?" Hermione snapped. "I suppose you know you could have been seen?"
"Well I wasn't," he stuck his tongue out at her which only made her glower all the more. Despite everything, Alice suppressed a giggle. "And we're definitely this year, or last year really, after term started.
"How can you tell?" She asked.
"Because I saw Fred and George walk past and they were wearing those hideous badges you got sent. You remember? The ones that said P.E.A.S."
"But that was months ago!" Ron apparently didn't find this as comforting as his friend.
Outside the noise in the corridor was beginning to subside. Everyone must have been going to their classes. Alice twisted a loose strand of hair round her finger as she thought. "That still doesn't really help much, I mean what would we do - stay in the forest all year until June comes round again?"
Ron shuddered; he'd had quite enough experience of the forest thank you.
Hermione was holding the Time Turner up to examine it through the sliver of light streaming in the door. "I don't know if it can be mended. I mean they use powerful magic. Really ancient. The original prototypes were invented by the Egyptians based on -"
She suddenly froze.
"Hermione, what's wrong? What were they based on?"
"Egyptian water clocks," Alice watched her friend curiously as she picked up her narrative, "they dripped water from one vessel into another and used them to measure time. In 1381 BC Egyptian wizards managed to harness the basic principles of this technology to make the first Time Turners, they wouldn't have looked anything like that," she nodded towards the remains of the one Hermione was still clutching, "but the magical principles were the same."
"But that's just it," Hermione finally breathed, her eyes glowing as they fixed on Alice. "The magic is the same!"
"Is anyone going to fill me in on what the hell is going on?" Ron's bewildered gaze flicked from one face to the other.
"Search me, mate," Harry told him.
"Alice, your book!" Hermione, as usual, seemed to be about three conversations ahead of everyone else. Alice stared at her blankly for a moment before suddenly it clicked.
"You don't think, surely not, but then..." She gazed at her shoes as she considered, trying to suppress the thrill of excitement the notion had given her.
"Hello," Ron waved a hand in front of their faces, "other people present. I might do Divination, but I'm not psychic. What are you two babbling on about?"
"Alice's book," Hermione turned to him excitedly, dropping the Time Turner and allowing another trickle of sand to run from her hands she gripped Ron's, "the one she had stolen in November, what was it about?"
Her excited look from Ron's face to Harry was met with disappointing results as both boys stared back at her expectantly, it was clear they didn't have a clue.
"Ancient Egyptian magic." It was Neville who eventually spoke.
"But you just said," Alice pointed out, "that was in November. If Fred and George are wearing those badges it must be about September, maybe October. It can't be later than that because I managed to steal the stupid things back and get rid of them."
"Well... I just thought that... you never know," Hermione countered, "maybe this thing will glitch again and we'll end up in November."
"As long as it's the right November," Ron muttered grumpily, "and not some random November in the middle of a goblin rebellion or something."
Harry reached over and squeezed her hand encouragingly. "It's worth a shot."
Alice looked at her brother, he was watching her, the same excitement and hope she had felt thrilling through her earlier was reflected in his eyes. In that instant she knew, she would try anything that might have even the slimmest chance of getting them home again.
"Ok."
No more needed to be said. Once the corridor was empty they padded out in single file and headed in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. It was strange to think, Alice mused as they scurried along, that they were wandering around on the third floor, whilst somewhere else in the castle they were also sitting learning about History of Magic or Transfiguration. It boggled the mind.
As everyone was in classes it was fairly easy to reach the Gryffindor common room unnoticed. It was at moments like this however that Alice realised how much they had come to rely on the security of Harry's invisibility to cloak to allow them to sneak around the school undetected. This way she felt so much more exposed.
With good reason it transpired for no sooner had they turned into the corridor which led to the Fat Lady's portrait than there was another swing in time. Alice clutched Hermione's arm as she tried not to feel nauseous. The sight of Mrs Norris prowling around in front of them only served to make her feel more ill than she already did. For a long minute they locked gazes with the cat, five sets of wary human eyes staring at suspicious, yellow, feline ones. Just as Alice was beginning to wonder if she ever blinked, Mrs Norris gave a sudden yowl and sprang past them, skittering off down the corridor, no doubt in search of Filch.
"We had better be quick," Harry said. "Filch could turn up at any minute."
"I'll go and get the book," Alice told them. "You had better hide in case someone comes along. In case we've somehow landed on the right day and I come along."
Leaving them to mull over that peculiar prospect she dashed across the corridor only to skid to a stop in front of the portrait. "Wait, what was the password in November?!"
"Waterbeetle," Hermione supplied with only momentary hesitation. Really, it was a wonder the girl's brain hadn't exploded already.
Ignoring the suspicious look the Fat Lady was giving her Alice slipped through into the common room and bolted up the stairs. At least now they knew it was November. This must have been the right day, or still was the right day - time travel did really play havoc with a person's sense of tense. Unlocking the trunk lying at the bottom of her bed, Alice searched through it until she spotted the book sticking out from underneath a pile of socks. Could this really hold the answers to their predicament? Just as she was running her fingers over the worn blue leather she heard a set of feet plodding wearily up the spiral staircase.
Grabbing the book she pulled at it, upsetting the contents of the trunk in the process as the robes it was tangled in came too. Snatching these as well she dived for the space between Parvati's wardrobe and the door. Not a moment too soon as it was opened and in walked... herself.
It was without a doubt the weirdest experience Alice had ever had. Standing, peeking round the dormitory door and watching herself walk wearily across the room rubbing at her eyes. Was that really what she looked like? Was she really that short?! She watched herself shamble over to the trunk and crouch down. Seizing the opportunity she ducked out from behind the door and fled down the stairs, her feet flying beneath her.
Halfway down the spiral she could hear another set of feet, or the same set really, thundering down behind her. Trying not to waste time considering the vaguely comical fact that she was unwittingly chasing herself Alice sped up, careering across the common room, ignoring the Fat Lady's protestations as she was thrown open and bolted down the corridor to the corner round which the others were hiding.
"Move," she gasped. "Quick, move. I'm right behind me." Whether it was the urgency in her voice or a mark of how many bizarre things tended to happen to them on a regular basis, no one sought to question her, they simply dived behind a nearby tapestry. Alice squeezed in and shut her eyes, listening to the footsteps as they stumbled to a halt in the corridor. Would they be spotted? Just because she hadn't seen anyone the first time this had happened, didn't mean she wouldn't this time - or did it? It was all too confusing for words. At long last they heard the feet retreating, accompanied by a frustrated hiss, and after an interval long enough to ensure it was safe to do so Alice heard the others let out a sigh of relief.
"That was close," Ron muttered.
"Yeah."
"Did you get it?" Hermione asked.
Alice nodded, then realised she had a tapestry in her face so her friend probably couldn't see. "Yes."
"Come on then," Harry spoke up, "we should find somewhere no one will come across us accidentally and have a look at the book." The rest of them agreed wholeheartedly.
A/N: Hello again, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I just want to say how much I love and appreciate all you lovely readers, you are truly lovely ;)