It's About Time

Chapter 8.
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The room was bathed in morning light causing the inhabitants of the dormitory to stir ever so slightly. But the occupant of the bed nearest the window, however, had not slept a wink.

‘What was I thinking?’

Plagued with guilt… sleep hadn’t come and there was no sign of exoneration.

‘Could I truly have been so utterly brainless?’

Hermione beat her fists into her mattress in aggravation.

‘I was lonely. I was thinking of James the whole time. It was almost as though I had kissed him… not Sirius.’

She could frantically strive to justify her actions to herself all she wanted… but she internalized none of it. She’d been fully aware of what she was doing at the time. Even worse, the thing that made it so much harder to accept, was that… when she stopped to really think about everything that had happened under that tree by the lake… she could not deny that it had felt incredible.

There was no denying the sensation of lying beside Sirius, feeling the warmth from his body radiate through the chilly night air, had been like nothing she’d ever experienced before in her seventeen years of life. Gazing into his shining eyes under a blanket of stars had seemed so natural.

And then there was that kiss.

It was brief, yes… barely a peck even… but the few seconds their lips had connected were magnificent. Sparks had ignited within Hermione’s very body and she’d felt hot and cold all at the same time.

If she was truly honest with herself, she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that James had been the furthest thing from her mind all the while. Despite all that, her rational mind struggled to convince her that it was Sirius’ vulnerability and sadness that had caused her to reach out to him last night… of course. She had felt sorry for him and comforted him as best as she could.

‘Liar…’ The voice in her head accused.

Alas, there was no escaping her conscience.

The tender bump above her ear, now very prominent on her head, was the only remaining souvenir of her tryst by the lake. And it was only worsening the mental war that she was waging upon herself.

Touching the contusion lightly with the tips of her fingers, pain exploded through her skull causing her to curse aloud.

Lily, who had been slowly rousing a few beds away, sat up quickly to find the source of the cry. Her eyes fell upon Hermione, whose was grimacing in pain.

“Hermione?” Lily spoke gently though the cool edge to her voice was apparent. “What’s happened?”

‘Of course it has to be Lily!’ Hermione protested silently, the thought of accepting Lily’s help caused a renewed guilt to turn her stomach with nausea and reaction to the pain in her head.

“Nothing’s happened,” Hermione lied, gingerly getting out of the bed. “I’m fine.” She took a few steps when her head pulsated in pain once more and she was overcome with dizziness.

Lily rushed over and caught the weakened Hermione from falling.

“You are not fine,” the redhead retorted. “I’m taking you to the hospital wing… now” She added when Hermione looked as though she would argue.

By this time, the clamor had awoken the other girls in the room. Alice rushed over and began inquiring if she could be of service.

“She needs to see Madam Pomfrey,” said Lily with an air of impatience. It was obvious to Alice that Lily was still upset that James had apparently transferred his attentions towards Hermione.

The bushy-haired girl wanted to oppose but knew, full well, that she couldn’t spend the day ignoring her aching head. So, recognizing when to admit defeat, she allowed herself to be led to the hospital wing for the second time in a week.

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Lily and Alice walked into the hospital wing, supporting Hermione between them. They moved slowly and cautiously in the direction of an open bed near the back of the hall.

“Madam Pomfrey?” called Lily, her voice echoing throughout the sterile ward.

The stringent nurse bustled out of her office and towards the three young girls.

“Back so soon, Miss Granger?” She scrutinized the younger girl from head to toe. “It isn’t your arm again, is it?”

Hermione shook her head warily. “No, it is my head. I’ve bumped it on… my bedpost.”

She noticed Lily’s eyes dart towards her suspiciously as she opened her mouth to contradict the lie.

Before Lily could say a word, Madam Pomfrey scribbled something on her clipboard and waved her hand indicating an empty bed. Hermione murmured a “thank you” to her roommates as they assisted her delicately onto the mattress.

She hated to own up to it but she was grateful… she was in quite a lot of pain.

“Thank you, girls,” Madam Pomfrey said briskly. “I’ll take it from here.”

Lily wasted no time in saying a speedy “goodbye” over her shoulder and headed towards the door. She stopped and turned around waiting for her best friend to follow. Alice hesitated, leaning towards Hermione, she whispered, “I’ll be by later to see you… and perhaps you can tell me then, what really happened to your head?” With a knowing smile, she stood and hurried to catch up with Lily as the two girls disappeared through the doorway.

“I really must speak to the Headmaster about the dangers of those dormitory bedposts!” Clucked Madam Pomfrey, eyeing Hermione skeptically.

The younger girl paled faintly. “What do you mean?” Hermione asked in a small voice, although she was horrified she knew where this was leading.

“You’re the second student today to be admitted with such an injury,” the older woman said with a tiny smile, nodding her head towards the bed directly opposite Hermione.

‘Oh no. Please tell me it isn’t…’

“Sirius!” She sputtered. Sitting up in bed across from her sat the handsome Gryffindor, the bandage wrapped around his head couldn’t even begin to mar his striking features. He smiled vaguely at her… traces of sorrow still obscured his infamous grin.

Regardless, he managed to answer her playfully. “Vicious, those bed posts. Aren’t they?” His eyes twinkled faintly.

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“We’ve already told you, Harry!” Ginny said anxiously.

Ron had been pacing back and forth in front of Harry’s bed in the hospital wing for the past forty-five minutes. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration for the hundredth time.

“Ronald! Will you please stop pacing!?” It wasn’t a question. He was driving Ginny mad.

Ron stopped abruptly and sat down in a chair beside Harry’s bed and immediately began fidgeting with the buttons on his shirt. He couldn’t seem to sit still.

Ginny rolled her eyes at his perpetual restlessness.

Normally, Ron’s prowling about the room and constant movement would have aggravated Harry as well… but he had other things on his mind at the moment.

“So… neither of you felt the chest pains?” He inquired of the two Weasleys.

They shook their redheads in unison.

“And you both are, obviously, feeling perfectly well…” He muttered.

The siblings nodded solemnly.

“It doesn’t make sense that-” Harry began.

“The memory things are affecting us differently,” Ron finished.

“Right,” said Harry.

The three were engulfed by another moment of silence.

After a few minutes, Ron broke the quiet that had settled around them.

“What we know for sure then, is that there are two factors here. One is causing the weird flashbacks and the other is draining Harry’s energy and causing his chest pain. But what this has to do with Hermione… I have no idea.”

“I think you need to tell Professor McGonagall about this. If it has anything to with Hermione… the Order needs to know,” Ginny stated.

“The Order doesn’t know any more than we know, Gin,” said Ron.

“Well, what did Professor McGonagall say when you spoke to the Order after Hermione disappeared?” Ginny asked. She had yet to be allowed to attend a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix, much to her chagrin.

Harry answered with clear frustration in his voice. “She said that there was nothing she could tell us and to continue our research as was planned.”

“Yeah… they don’t know anymore than we know,” Ron added.

Ginny sat up straighter. “Wait! She didn’t say she didn’t know anything…. She said she couldn’t tell you anything.”

“If she knew something about Hermione… why wouldn’t she tell us?” Ron asked incredulously.

Silence fell once more as they contemplated what Ginny had said. Harry and Ron had both interpreted McGonagall’s response as though she did not have any information about Hermione’s strange disappearance.

“But the Order wouldn’t keep us in the dark about something like this. After all we’ve been through.” Harry said, half trying to reassure himself.

Ginny looked skeptical. “Maybe not… but perhaps if McGonagall knew about the visions and memories we’re having it would persuade her to remember something that might be useful.”

Ron and Harry exchanged glances and Harry shrugged. “It’s worth a try, I suppose. Let’s go.”

Harry got up out of bed, slowly as to avoid aggravated his weakened state.

Ginny stood as though ready to catch him should he fall. “You really ought to stay in bed. Madam Pomfrey will never let you walk out of here.”

Ron smirked, “Then we’d better hurry.”

And with the two Weasleys flanking Harry, the three of them walked out of the Hospital wing and towards McGonagall’s office where, with any luck, answers would await them.

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“Stop staring at me, Sirius,” Hermione groaned. They had been in the hospital wing for hours and were not permitted to leave until the pain had completely subsided. But her head was still throbbing and making her grouchy.

He retorted, “I’m not staring at you. I’m looking out the window. If you haven’t noticed, there’s one right next to your bed.”

She turned her head slowly and glanced at the window. “Oh… um. Sorry.”

Hermione knew she was being childish but she was in pain and her confusion over the events of the previous night definitely was not helping.

Looking back over at Sirius, she noticed that he was indeed watching the sky outside the window. She could read the pain that was still reflected in his face… a combination of their collision and, more importantly, waiting for news of Mr. Potter’s health. He appeared lost in thought, pensive and almost vulnerable. But one attribute remained… those dark eyes of his were always sparkling. A feature that he would not retain in his adult years, she remembered… but was intriguing none the less. Mesmerizing, even.

“Who’s staring now?” Sirius’ low voice made her jump.

Hermione felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She had been ogling him!

Sirius chuckled at her obvious blush. “How about a game of wizard’s chess to help pass the time? I’m bloody bored out of my mind.”

“Uh… sure,” she replied, still humiliated. ‘Since when do I stutter so much,’ she thought.

Patting a spot on the bed beside him, Sirius beckoned her over.

“You want me to come sit with you…. In your bed?” she stammered.

“Well, we can’t very well play from across the room, can we?” he reasoned.

Hermione conceded. “I suppose not.”

She slowly rose from her bed trying to avoid intensifying her headache and walked over to sit at the foot of Sirius’ bed. With a wave of his wand, his wizard’s chess set appeared between them.

“You any good?” he inquired, eyeing her with a raised brow.

She smiled ruefully. “I’m absolutely dreadful.”

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Harry, Ron and Ginny walked slowly through the corridors towards McGonagall’s office. It was so strange to walk the halls no longer a student at Hogwarts, thought Harry. But it was for the best… if anything, seeing all of these young witches and wizards, so oblivious to the dangers that lay ahead, reinforced Harry’s desire to defeat Lord Voldemort once and for all.

As they rounded the corner nearest the large gargoyles that guarded the office, they ran head on into Professor McGonagall and Remus Lupin.

“Professors!” Ginny exclaimed. “I’m so sorry.”

“Quite alright, Miss Weasley,” replied McGonagall in her usual curt tone. “Coming to see me, I assume?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Ron replied, she still intimidated him immensely.

Professor McGonagall and Remus shared a knowing glance. “Very well. Follow me,” she said.

She and Remus both turned and led the way back to the Headmistress’s office.

Once they had all taken their respective seats, McGonagall spoke.

“What can I do for you, Potter, Weasley, Weasley?” She nodded at each of them.

“Professor,” Harry began, leaning forward in his seat. “I don’t feel that I can sit by idly and wait for the Order to decide we’re old enough to hear news of Hermione’s disappearance. I want to know what you know. Everything you know.”

“Potter. You may no longer be a student at Hogwarts but I must insist on you speaking to me with respect in my school,” she said evenly.

Harry apologized but did not back down. “We, the three of us, have been having these odd flashbacks… and we can sense Hermione’s emotions.”

Ginny jumped in, “It has happened to all three of us.”

“And they are making Harry sick,” Ron finished.

“Sick? Are you alright, Harry?” Remus asked, his voice laden with concern.

“I’m fine,” Harry insisted. “But-” He was cut off.

“Dumbledore said something like this could happen, Minerva.”

Harry, Ron and Ginny looked at one another in shock.

“What do you mean ‘Dumbledore said this could happen’?” Harry demanded, look back and forth between Professors McGonagall and Lupin.

“For Goodness sake, Remus,” McGonagall hissed, “I’m aware of what Albus said.”

“Will one of you PLEASE explain what is going on here?” Harry said, trying to control his anger. He hated being treated like a child… after everything he had accomplished in his young life; he was still being treated like a helpless child.

Professor McGonagall sighed. “Very well, Potter,” she said in a most resigned tone of voice. “Miss Granger has not been abducted nor is she in any danger. She has been sent back in time – ”

“What?!” Exclaimed Ron, his eyes wide.

Harry was on his feet in an instant. “And neither of you thought it necessary to inform us of this?! We’ve been worried sick, as you well know!” He was furious.

“Sit down, Harry,” Remus spoke calmly.

“Don’t you dare!” Harry shouted. “Don’t you dare treat me like a child. You are going to tell me what you know and you are going to tell me NOW!”

“Mister Potter! Control yourself.” Said McGonagall, raising her voice for the first time. “I will explain after you sit down and act like an adult.”

Harry reluctantly sat down and folded his arms across his chest. Maybe he wasn’t acting like an adult but he was too angry to care.

“Now. Like I said, Miss Granger has been sent back in time. We think it may have been an unfortunate incident with a time turner, only Hermione and Dumbledore knew for sure, but we do know that she is safe,” She held up a hand when Harry opened his mouth to argue again. “Please let me finish, Potter. The reason that none of you have been informed is because, long ago, Professor Dumbledore had us each swear not to divulge this information to anyone for fear of changing the time line.”

“Professor?” Ginny interjected. “If Hermione has already gone back in time, how could we possibly change the time line?”

Professor McGonagall glanced up at the portrait of a soundly sleeping Albus Dumbledore that graced the wall of the office. “The timeline will undoubtedly be changed… in ways we still have yet to see. Due to events that occurred during Hermione’s stay in the past, if anything were to be tampered with… there would be serious implications.”

“You knew her,” Harry said in a voice barely more than a whisper. “You knew her then, didn’t you?”

“We both did, Harry,” Remus answered.

“You?” Harry puzzled. And then it dawned on him. “She knew my Mum and Dad, didn’t she?”
“Yes, Harry. She knew all of us.” He confirmed sadly.

Harry fell quiet… looking at his feet, contemplative.

“What will happen to her? If you were there, then you must know,” Ron asked cautiously.

“We don’t know,” Remus answered frankly. “We think she may have found a way to return to the present… but there is no way of knowing for sure, until she comes back – ”

“- If, she comes back,” Harry acknowledged.

“Yes, Harry,” said McGonagall, her eyes slightly misty.

Remus leaned forward on his knees. “She did… leave a note…”

“Remus!” McGonagall scolded. “I think we’ve said enough.”

“No! I want to know,” Harry said, standing again.

“We’ve told you everything that we know regarding where she is and that she is safe. We have Order members working on finding out how this horrible state of affairs happened in the first place. If you please, Mister Potter, I think you have your own research to see to, do you not?”

To everyone’s surprise Harry did not argue. He stood and thanked both McGonagall and Lupin then turned and walked out of the room followed closely by Ron and Ginny.

Once back in Ginny’s room, they all sat… dumbfounded.

“What d’you reckon, Harry?” Ron asked.

“I don’t know. But the flashbacks we’re having must have something to do with all of this.”

Ginny stood. “Library?” she asked readily.

The two boys nodded and they headed towards the only place they knew that might hold the answers they so badly needed.

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Three hours and two games of wizard’s chess later, Hermione and Sirius were leaning against the headboard of his bed eating sandwiches brought to them by the school house elves. Sirius was telling Hermione all about a prank he and James had played in their fourth year… they were both laughing loudly despite their still aching heads.

“And to think I rushed over here because I thought you two were hurt…”

They stopped laughing and turned to see who had spoken.

“James!” Hermione jumped up then instantly regretted it. She clutched her head but remained standing. “When did you get back?”

James raised an eyebrow. “About ten minutes ago. Remus told me that Sirius had hurt himself and that you hadn’t been in class all day. I was worried.”

“Ah, sorry mate. She’s accident prone,” Sirius joked but clearly noticed James suspicious demeanor. Then remembering suddenly, “How’s your dad?”

James smiled, “He should be fine, Thank Merlin! Mum sent lots of food for you… she says you’re too thin”

The two boys laughed and Hermione let out the breath she’d been holding. She approached James tentatively and reached out to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her, seeking much needed comfort.

“I’m so glad that he’s alright, James,” she whispered truthfully.

He pulled back and looked her in the eyes, “Thank you. And I believe I owe you a walk?”

She blushed. “And we’ll have our walk. But for now, you are probably exhausted and Madam Pomfrey will kill me if she finds me out of bed.”

“Or in Sirius’ bed?” James pointed out. “What happened to you two anyways?”

“I hit my head on my bed post,” they both responded at the same time. They looked at each other, eyes wide, and then back to James, unable to disguise the guilt tracing their features.

James glanced back and forth between the two. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted.

“You know how Pomfrey is, James. She just wants to hover over us a bit longer.” Sirius said quickly.

“Right,” James said, “Of course.”

He looked slightly disappointed that his walk with Hermione would be postponed further but he was awfully tired. “I’ll be back a bit later then.”

With a hopeful smile to Hermione and wave to Sirius, James turned and walked out of the hospital ward.

Hermione sank back down onto the foot of the bed. She looked at Sirius and their eyes met.

“Well, that’s good. That James’ dad is going to be alright,” she said quietly, trying to ignore the fact that the expression in his eyes was making her stomach flutter again.

“Yeah,” Sirius replied. “Yes, it’s great.” Allowing himself to smile softly.

Just then, Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office and saw the mess of their lunch and the wizard’s chess pieces all over the bed.

“What’s all this?” she scolded, waving her hand at the bed.

Without tearing his eyes away from Hermione’s, and clearly not referring to the clutter upon the bed, Sirius answered her, “It’s too soon to tell.”
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