May 2nd, 1998

Hermione Granger was having a rather eventful day. First she'd raided Gringotts, then she'd flown on a the back of an actual dragon, and now she was participating in the all-out battle that Hogwarts had descended into. She and Ron had ended up separated from Harry in all of the chaos. On Ron's suggestion, the two of them were heading towards the Chamber of Secrets to destroy the Horcrux in Hufflepuff's Cup.

They made it to the second-floor corridor girl's bathroom with only one Death Eater encounter, sustaining mild scrapes and bruises. Luckily Ron was able to get the Chamber entrance to open by mimicking the Parseltongue he had heard Harry use to open the locket after only a few tries. The two of them grinned at each other, and Ron awkwardly proffered his arm towards the hole in the wall.

"Erm, ladies first?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at his attempt at chivalry, before stepping forward into the slimy pipe. Then their good luck ran out; the door to the bathroom burst open with a loud bang. The pair of Gryffindors turned and saw a burly Death Eater facing them with his wand drawn. Ron didn't hesitate; he shoved Hufflepuff's Cup into Hermione's hands, and not to gently pushed her into the pipe. She lost her balance and would have slid down the incline if she hadn't grabbed onto a protruding brick at the last second. Twisting around, she saw that Ron and the Death Eater had begun a fierce duel.

She could tell that her best friend was outmatched; she quickly began pulling herself forwards, trying to go help him. But then, a strange hissing echoed through the pipe and the entrance started to rumble closed. She desperately scrambled up and lunged forwards, just in time to watch Ron be struck in the chest with an unknown curse as the last bricks slid closed.

"Ronald Weasley, you had better be alive!" She screamed at the brick wall. "You're going to pay for this!" Shaking with fear and anger, adrenaline coursing through her veins, she frantically searched for the lever that Harry had mentioned as his exit last time. She found it—a switch with a silver snake engraved in it— but when she pulled, it didn't work. She kept tugging, but nothing happened. Finally, she resorted to hissing at it, trying to mimic the sounds Ron had made earlier, but to no avail. After about ten minutes of trying to get the door open, she sighed and turned away. She retrieved Hufflepuff's Cup from where she'd dropped it, shivering a bit as she once again felt the harsh press of Voldemort's soul piece brush against her magic. She carefully sat on her bum and allowed herself to slide down the expanse of the slimy metal pipe.

When the pipe leveled out and turned into a stone corridor, she shakily stood up and made her way through the cold and damp passageway. Every footstep echoed loud enough to make her cringe; in the distance, she seemed to hear the steady dripping of water. She suddenly remembered that there was another door that required parseltongue to open, and she was momentarily struck with panic at the thought of being stuck in this tunnel until she starved, no one knowing her whereabouts, never learning the outcome of the battle…. But to her great surprise, when she reached the next door it was already open. Perhaps it had been left open from when Harry was down here in Second Year?

She closed her eyes and tentatively stepped through it, reassuring herself that the basilisk was good and dead, that there was nothing in there that could harm her. As soon as she was through the doorway, the hissing of parseltongue echoed loudly through the large, hollow Chamber, and the doors behind her slid closed. Hermione peeled her eyes open and looked around wildly. She let out a sharp gasp when she saw that she was not alone.

A strange woman stood in the middle of the Chamber, watching Hermione with a strange smile on her face. Her hands were clasped in front of her body, and she was holding a long black wand loosely in one of them. She was slim, with very pale skin, dark curly hair, and brown eyes. Her pretty features didn't look any older than Hermione's, but something about her eyes held a certain amount of gravity. And more than that, she seemed to emanate an aura of… power. When she spoke, her voice was melodious.

"Good evening, Hermione."

In a flash, Hermione's wand was raised, pointing at this woman threateningly. For some reason, the strange witch seemed to find this amusing, as her lips turned up into a small smile.

"Who are you?" Hermione demanded. She wanted to appear strong, but her wand was shaking in her hand "How did you get down here? Are you a Death Eater?"

The woman suddenly laughed, a light tinkling of bells. "Oh goodness, no! Do I look like one of those fools? Faulty world-view aside, I can hardly imagine myself parading around in that ridiculous mask!"

"No," Hermione admitted. In her mind flashed a quick comparison with the most prominent female Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange. With her wild hair, manic eyes, and lunatic laugh, Bellatrix couldn't be further from this calm, collected woman standing before her. "I guess you seem much more… put together than they are. But then, are you with the Order?"

The woman grinned. Hermione almost would have called it a smirk, as if there were some joke that Hermione wasn't in on. "The Order of the Phoenix, you mean? Then I have to say, yes, I am a member of that group, for whatever it's worth."

Hermione sighed in relief; this woman was an ally. But then she frowned; was she really going to believe the word of this stranger without any proof? What if she were trying to get Hermione to relax and let her guard down, for some reason? And she still hadn't explained what she was even doing in the Chamber of Secrets. "Are you really? I haven't seen you around headquarters, and no one's ever mentioned… Well, what is your name?"

The woman laughed again. "They call me Electra."

"I've never heard of any Order member by that name." Hermione said darkly, suspiciously. She narrowed her eyes and asked, "If you're a member, you should be able to tell me where our Headquarters are."

Electra winked at her. "Ah, but that secret was compromised by you and your little lion friends, was it not? Perhaps you should ask a different question."

Hermione had had enough; clearly this woman was up to something, and Hermione wasn't going to take it. She couldn't take any risks right now. She cast a silent petrificus totalus before the woman could react. As the bright blue jet of magic burst towards the strange woman, Electra tilted her head and watched the curse's approach with a look of mild curiosity on her face. A split second before the curse would have struck her, Electra twitched her wand and it disappeared in a burst of silver light.

All Hermione could do was gape. How powerful was this witch if she could just… dissipate a curse like that? She'd barely moved her wand! And if this witch really was an Order member, why had she not been fighting before, with as powerful as she apparently was?

Rather than looking angry that Hermione had attempted to curse her, Electra looked amused. Perhaps a little pleased. "A fine curse, Hermione! I daresay that could have hurt me, if it had hit! And your caution will serve you very well in what's to come. But in the future, or well, your future, I might suggest more… discreet methods of allaying your fears. Battlefield reactions just won't do where we're going."

Hermione blinked at her, aghast. "What do you mean? There's a battle going on right now!" That brought Hermione's mind back to what was going on upstairs. Ron. And Harry. She had to destroy the damn Horcrux and then go find out what was happening to her friends! "I've got to get back there!" She said urgently. "If you're really an Order member, then help me destroy this cup and then get out of here! They need us!"

"Hermione, Dear, I promise that I will explain everything in due time." For some reason, Electra stopped to snicker here, before continuing, "But for now, we really must get out of here; this Chamber won't be safe for long. He'll come down here to look at the skeleton of his basilisk, and that's an encounter I would much rather avoid."

Hermione's eyes widened and she took half a step backwards. Nothing "Go away? But—I can't go! I need to destroy this Horcrux, and then I need to get back upstairs! I need to help my friends!"

"Of course you do," Electra said, her voice growing more impatient. "And I wish to help with that! Just—come over here! I promise, everything will make sense!"

Hermione then noticed that the strange witch was standing in the center of a circle of runes carved into the Chamber floor. She squinted, trying to make out what was written. It had been a while since she'd done any Ancient Runes work, seeing as she'd had to skip out on her this year of Hogwarts, but she was still very surprised when she realized that she didn't recognize over half of the runes written. The ones she did recognize were just the generic spell-stabilizing ones.

"What are you doing? What are those runes?" She asked suspiciously. She took a small step back, her wand still held out before her, her hand still trembling a bit.

"Merlin, Hermione, I'm not going to hurt you!" Electra exclaimed, her voice exasperated. "Look, I didn't want it to come to this, but we're running out of time, so you've left me no choice!" The other with raised her own wand and pointed it at Hermione.

For a moment, nothing happened, and Hermione frowned. But then, she was suddenly overcome with a soft, warm feeling. Step into the circle, Hermione a voice whispered in her head. Hermione's feet obeyed almost without her consent… That's it…. Obedience was so pleasing, she was so warm…. Just a bit further…. She was at the edge of the runic circle….

"No!" Hermione blinked as she realized that Electra had put her under the Imperius curse… Nonverbally? "You are definitely not an Order member!" She accused the other witch, moving to step away. Electra's hand shot out and grabbed Hermione's wrist. Her grip wasn't rough, but it was firm. Hermione tried to twist out of it, but the slight woman was surprisingly strong. She tugged Hermione so that she was fully standing in the runic circle, which started to glow, emitting a silvery light.

"We certainly can't bring this with us," Electra said lightly as she wrenched Hufflepuff's Cup from Hermione's grasp and tossed it out of the circle, into the pool at the base of the statue. "And you'll need this as well." Electra produced what appeared to be a necklace with three small pearls hanging on a golden chain. With one hand, she twirled it around Hermione's throat, and when she let go, it remained on, as if she'd cast a Permanent-Sticking Charm.

Hermione hadn't ceased her struggling. "What are you doing? What do you want with me?"

Electra ignored her, smoothing one hand over the necklace and nodding in satisfaction. "There, that should hold. Alright, Dear, we're ready to go! I'd recommend closing your eyes now. This next part can get a little overwhelming."

Before Hermione could do anything else, Electra closed her eyes, and the silver light burst out of the runes on the floor, filling the air around them in a dazzling, hazy cloud, and engulfing both of their bodies.

Hermione screamed as the light grew brighter and brighter, filling all of her senses—bright, blinding blue—the roar of the ocean in a seashell—springtime and melting snow—the metallic tang of foil stuck to a piece of candy—She felt it covering her, pushing lightly on her skin; it wasn't hurting her, but it wasn't embracing her either, it was almost testing her, feeling her out. Then, all at once, it faded, and she was left dizzily blinking, with lights dancing before her eyes. They were still in the Chamber, but for some reason, it felt… different. Like the spell had shifted something. When she took in a steadying breath, something about the air tasted… bitter.

Electra finally released her arm and stepped away. She gave Hermione a pitying look as Hermione struggled to find her bearings. "I told you to close your eyes, didn't you?"

Hermione stared at her, unsure about what just happened. As the spots faded and she regained her balance some, she glared at the other woman. "What did you just do to me? Who are you? What's going on?" She wanted to appear threatening, so she held up her wand again, although she suspected that this powerful witch would be able to easily avoid any survive any attack Hermione might make.

Electra, of course, was not frightened at all. She spoke in soothing tones. "Calm down, dear, the battle's far away now. We're much safer now. Although, we should get a move on. I'd rather not piss off the basilisk today."

Hermione's stomach twisted as she realized that there was something drastically different about the chamber: the large basilisk skeleton that had been around Slytherin's statue was now gone. Beyond that, everything about the Chamber seemed a little bit… off. Less damp, less moldy. "What do you mean, the basilisk? Harry killed it years ago! What did your spell do?" Did it somehow bring the monster back to life? No, that was impossible!

The woman sighed. "Well, that's no longer true. Harry Potter hasn't killed the basilisk yet. In fact, Harry Potter hasn't even been born. This circle of runes is a time-gate, and we just traveled back. It is currently June 21st, 1942. Right around midnight."

Hermione froze. Blood roared in her ears and the room before her seemed to swim for a moment. "What did you say?" She whispered.

"You heard me, Hermione. It's 1942."

"N-No, that's…That's not possible." Hermione shook her head. "It's 1998."

Electra just shrugged. "It is as I say; I'll explain more when we get of here. I'd rather not have to carry you out of here petrified, and if we keep talking, the basilisk will get curious. Now come, there's a tunnel to the Forbidden Forest this way." She turned and started walking away from Hermione, towards a large stone arch leading deeper into the Chamber.

Hermione stared after her, still frozen in her disbelief. "But we can't… We can't suddenly be fifty-six years in the past!" She said desperately. "We—we didn't even use a time turner!"

Electra paused and looked back at Hermione. "Please, dear, I promise, this'll all make sense after I explain it. And we really should be going! I've got a nice little cottage all set up for us, we'll be perfectly safe there! You'll like it, I'm sure! A nice hot bath, a cosy bed, a warm cup of cocoa? Just what you need after the year you've had! Then after we're all calmed down and rational, we can go over this like adults." Near the end of her speech, Electra's voice took on a patronizing quality.

Hermione wasn't sure if she was more confused, terrified, or angry. But this woman's annoyingly superior, condescending tones did nothing to help the matter. "Don't talk to me like that!" She snapped, balling her fists. They were trembling with emotion. "I want to know what the fuck is going on!"

Electra smirked. "All in good time, my dear, all in good time."

Hermione stared at the witch, getting angrier and angrier until her vision was tinged red. Then, it all of the sudden, the emotion rushed out of her and she was left feeling deflated. Numb. She couldn't get out of this Chamber the way she had come in, and if the witch was telling her the truth, then even if she did get out, she would be entering a version of Hogwarts from her past. It seemed that she had no choice left but to follow this stranger.

Electra grinned at her as Hermione started walking towards her. "Very good, dear, come along now!"

"This is kidnapping, you know." Hermione hissed, glaring at the witch. "I don't believe for a second that you're really an Order member—you used an Unforgivable on me! I certainly wouldn't be cooperating if I had any other choice!"

Electra just shrugged, unaffected by the accusations. "Look, I'm sorry it had to be this way, but it was necessary. Any later, and you'd have been—" She cut her speech off with an abrupt shake of her head. "Never mind, It's not important. Anyway, follow me. I promise I'll explain this later."

Hermione scowled, but followed after the strange, dark-haired witch through the twisting tunnels of the Chamber of Secrets. After a while of walking in silence, they came to a staircase, and Electra led her up and out. They emerged in an unfamiliar clearing in the Forbidden Forest.

The entrance slid closed behind them and Electra took Hermione's arm, tugging her through the trees. After a minute, Hermione realized they were following a thin path. She started to ask Electra another question, but the witch cut her off with a sharp glance.

"This forest isn't empty," she whispered, before pulling Hermione through the trees even faster.

Soon enough, the trees opened up and they came to the edge of the forest, but not the part near Hogwarts grounds.

"There, we're away from the Anti-Apparition wards," Electra said, her voice pleased. She released Hermione's arm and stepped away, before turning to face her proffering her hand.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm very sorry for doing all this without your permission, but I don't want to force you to do anything else. If you would take my hand, I'll Apparate us to my safe house."

Hermione scowled at the witch, but she really had no other options. "I hope you understand that I'll require more proof than your word to accept that we're really in the past," she said frostily.

Electra nodded. "Of course. I'd expect nothing else. I'll give you proof, an explanation, everything, just come with me!"

Hermione sighed, and tentatively grasped Electra's hand. The other witch smiled, and with a pop, Hermione was pulled away into the pressure of Apparition.